Konoha Chronicles
by Kanashimi Angel
Summary: AU Full summary inside. Konoha&Suna are Kingdoms,and in war.During those years of darkness and hate,love finds the way to make the people of the two kingdoms reunite. ShikaTema, NaruHina, NejiTen, SasuSaku, GaaMatsu, KurenaiAsuma, MinaKushi
1. The War is Not Over

**Hey again! Another Naruto fic…Yeah. Hooked lately, and I don't think I'll get over it ****anytime soon! **

**Full summary? Well, in an AU world where Konoha and Sand are kingdoms, Sasuke the king of Konoha and Gaara the king of Sand. But hey, don't you think that Sasuke rules Konoha! It's still in Tsunade's hands…Until he gets married! Pairings in later chapter of course, ShikaTema, NaruHina, NejiTen and SasuSaku of course! (Note: It might seem as InoShika in the beginning, but don't flame me, it definitely ends up ShikaTema in the end! I need Ino with Shikamaru so he can dump her!)**

**This one, I remember, I wrote it so quickly! The ideas were just flowing and my hand was running on the paper!**

**DO NOT OWN NARUTO but I'd like to speak a few words to Kishimoto-sensei!**

'**o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

That morning everyone was in the King's office. The King; the Kazekage as his people called him, had called for his siblings, Lord Kankurou and Lady Temari. A message from the kingdom they were in war with had just arrived.

"So? What is it that made you call for us, little brother?" Temari asked with her arms crossed on her chest.

"Watch your mouth in front of the king, Lady Temari!" Kankurou turned and looked at her. "I am sorry my king, it will not happen again"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. I will try to watch the words I address...to my own little brother!" Temari's eyes shone with pride. She was always the rebelious spirit.

"Cut it out you two! Temari should watch her mouth, yes..." Gaara said looking at his eldest sister, who closed her eyes and chuckled "...but Kankurou shouldn't be so on with the formalities when it's only the three of us. Temari is our older sister, sure she knows more than we do" said the king and supported himself on his desk. "But I did not call you for that"

"Finally, getting to the subject of the day!" Temari said and leaned back to the wall

"There's a message form the enemy"

"What? They answered? At last!" Kankurou said and focused on the little piece of paper on his brother's desk.

"Yes...But the news are not the ones we expected, if I judged well the look on our messenger's face." Gaara said. "He was wounded; bleeeding to death. The medical ninis are taking care of him as we speak"

"WHAT?! They hurt the messenger? But...But that's illegal! And against the terms of war!" Temari exploaded

"Calm, Temari. They didnt do it. It was one of their exiled ones"

:Still, it was one Leaf bastard!" Temari whistled behind her gritted teeth.

"You didnt read the letter yet?" Kankurou asked

"No. I've been waiting for you, to read it when you're here too."

"Kind of you. Now open this and read what the bastards sent" Temari said sarcastically.

"Temari!" Kankurou looked at her

"Quit it! Both of you!"said Gaara and unfolded the paper. He read it and his invisible brows furrowed; his eyes tightened and so did his lips. Once he finished, he wrapped the paper into his fist and made it a little ball. His grip on it was so hard that his fingers went blank.

"So?" Temari asked

"Bad news?" Kankurou said

"The worst news we would like to hear...They dont wanna sign the peace treaty..." Gaara said and refolded the paper. "They say that they'll only think of signing if release those who we caught."

"What? But they were captured during the war! It's not just...The terms of the war say that they'll be released only if the war is over or if a peace contract is signed! They can't have such requests!" Temari said

"I know...I was with you when you and that girl wrote them down...It seems thought that they have forgotten them. I am not gonna release neither Anko nor Kurenai of the Leaf. If they want them back, they'll have to sign." Gaara said and hit his fist on the desk.

"Kazekage-sama! Kazekage-sama!" The knocks on the door were hard and rushed. "Hurry and open the door, you Highness!"

"What is it?" Gaara asked and he glared at the door; the sand in his barrel left at the nearest corner got out and headed to the doorknob. Turning it, the sand opened the door. One of the medic-nins that were taking care of the Sand's messenger stepped in.

"What is it?" Gaara repeated

"The messenger, my king..." said the nin huffing "We did everything we could, sir, everything possible...But..." he lowered his head "...We've lost him. His blood...wasn't enough left..."

"No..." Kankurou said

"Oh lord no...Bastards!" Temari whispered, but loud enough for Gaara to hear her.

"Temari!"

"What again!? They killed him!" Temari said pointing out of the window in the direction of Konoha

"We're not sure if it was them..." Gaara started

"Lady Temari..." said Kankurou and caught her hand. She looked each of her brothers deep in the eyes, then sighed

"Fine. But now we need a new messenger" sge said

"This won't be a problem" Gaara said looking at his papers "Any trustworthy citizent can take his place-"

"Um..I am afraid not, my king." interrupted the medic-nin. "After his death, whoever saw him injured is really afraid to get this job"

"What? But we are children of the Sand! We are not cowards!" Kankurou said

"My Lord your words are gentle and you speak wise. But the people of this land are becomeing more and more afraid with each day. We're in the middle of the desert. We've faced problems before but now we're in war! What if our water is over? Our food, or our weapons? We do not know qwich villages are allies to us or the opposite kingdom...You are lords and perhaps have no worries, but the peoploe..." said the medic-nin

"Enough. Stop now" Gaara raised his hand

"I'll take it" Temari said suddenly

"What?" Gaara's eyes flew to his sister "Say this again, Lady Temari"

"I said that I'll take his place, my king. I may be one of the Heads too, but I dont wanna stay inactive and watch my people die. I will be the Sand's new messenger. To encourage and teach them, that is" Temari said and crossed her arms again

"Then shall be it" Gaara let out. "You are aware of the dangers that creep behind this, arent you?"

"Yes, my king. But I will do my best not to fail neither you nor our people."

"Then you depart immediatelly..."Gaara said and folded a new paper "...to give our 'friends' in Konohagakure this message. They do not want peace? Then was is not to be over"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Gaaaaaah! that was exhausting! Trying to make an AU that the characters won't be so OOC...I dont think I did it, though. Especially Temari, I think I've made her a little too dirty-mouthed...You'll find out in later chapters why she hates Konoha's people so much, though! Hope you liked!**


	2. The Sand's new messenger

**Hi** **there again! Bit late in my updates,again! Hmm...Well, I wont take you down with my fake-philosophies again, I'm heading to the story right away.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my friend Jared, who unconsiously gave me the whole idea for the fic**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama!"

One, two, three knocks on her door. The blonde Hokage of the Hidden Leaf kingdom was in deep thought. So deep that didnt held a mind for the outside noises. At least not until her door crashed open.

"Now now...How dare you stumble on my door like that, then crash it and break into my office like an animal...Like two animals?" said the Hokage

On the doorway stood Duke Jiraiya and soldier Iruka. Iruka was huffing, and Jiraiya's fist was red.

"What a surprise! My lovely husband and a soldier came to visit me! What's the rush, gentlemen?"

"A message from the Sand, my Lady"

Tsunade's brows furrowed. "Another one? Where is it?"

"Um...Actually, that's the problem, lady Dutchess. Their messenger didnt let us take it...She said she wanted to deliver it herself."

"She? I thought it was "he" the last time. And...you gentlemen, weren't able to take a piece of papaer from a girl? Who is she anyway?"

"Lady Temari of the Sand...if I am to answer your question" spoke the girl that entered the Hokage's office

"Well, well, imagine that...Lady Temari, huh? Your growth is impressive"

"Thank you. But let's spare the fair words. I came to give you my brother King's message"

"So, that is...Gaara is the king of Sand, huh?...Interresting. And what message is this, my lade, that you wanted to deliver right in my hands?"

"This" Temari said and gave Tsunade the piece of papaer her brother had written on. The Dutchess took the papaer in her hand and looked at it, then went to read it. As she was nearing the last lines, her expression changed hundreds of times. And once she finished, she let the paper drop on her desk.

"Did he say anything else?" Tsunade asked

"Yes. He said that if you do not wish to sign the contract, then , under these circumstances, you cannot consider the war over. He will not release the prisoners unless you do" Temari's eyes travelled to the woman standing opposite her and their eyes dueled. Her eyes won, but Tsunade didnt lower her beaten ones.

"What? But..Tsunade-sama, Kurenai is-" Iruka said but Tsunade stopped him

"The war is not over, that is...Even though the terms say..."

"The terms say that the opponent doesnt kill or hurt the enemy's messenger, too! But as it seems, you didnt remember this one"

"What are you talking abou there girl?"

"Our messenger came back wonuded, bleeding to death! Our doctors couldnt save him! He died!"

"No one here could have possible done it. I have forbidden them to harm people from other villages and kingdoms; they'd be exiled! What makes you people think it was one of us?" Tsunade asked

"Because of the mark on his back! It was the same you people have on your forehead prtoectors, with a horizontal line in the middle. This wound was the worst of all, the one that bled the most." Temari spoke out rudely

"It could be someone of our already exiled ones, my Lady" Jiraiya interrupted

"Oh yeah? And how do you believe this person could know we're in war?"

"There's one that could have known...Uchiha Itachi" said Iruka

"Isnt this guy dead? Besides, the wound on our messenger's back was made with a blade and not chakra...And as far as I know, this certain Uchiha has used a blade only once in his life, to kill his clan...He is a chakra user, no?" Temari asked

"I know...That's why it doesnt make sense! And if I am confused, then I can understand why you Sand people had somebody from inside Konoha as a first thought...But I can guarantee nobody did this!" Tsunade hit her desk with her fist. "The conversation is over. Lady Temari, give my regards to your brother king. You can return to your kingdom with hold of this answer to your King. I will not sign unless Kurenai and Anko are returned asafe in the lands of Konohagakure. Now...Soldier Iruka!"

"Hai!"

"Go and find general Nara. There's a little job for him"

Iruka departed and the room stayed silent after that. Jiraiya stood with his hands folded behind his back, and Temari was supporting herself on her giant fan, trying to remember what the name Nara reminded her of. The only soun that could be heard were some little birds from outside. Tehn, knocks on the door.

"Come in" Tsunade replied

The door opened and steps were heard. Someone came in the room and closed the door behind him.

"Did you call for me, your Highness?" the voice deep, somehow familiar to Temari. Very familiar

"Yes, general Nara. There was an incindent with our dear Sand's messenger..He was attacked by someone who is or was citizent of this land ashe returned to his kingdom...So, because their new messenger is Lady Temari..." Tsunade said and continued without noticing the chills the person who had just came in got once the name "Temari" spoken, "...I'd like you to accompany her back to her kingdom; to make sure nothing likethat happens again. You will do anything possible and _in the terms _to protect her, is that clear?"

"Excse my rudeness, Tsunade-sama...But I think I can take great care of myself alone, thanks"

"No young Lady. If there;s the slightest chance someone attacking you again, I want to know who he or she is. You cannot blame us unfairly without proof for your previous messenger 's death. You need evidence to prove it, and that is why I send Nara Shikamaru to accompany you on your way back"

"Huh?" Temari let out as she slowly turned to face the person who had entered; her mind taking millions of thoughts in._ I knew this name was familiar! _She turned and faced Shikamaru Nara; a person to remember form the old days. "...Pineapple-head?" she whispered in disbelief.

"Yes, troublesome woman, it's me"

"Even better. If you two know each other, then it would be...easier to take her home" Tsunade interrupted

"They were opponents in the Chuunin exam, couple of years ago" Iruka said. "And Lady Temari was extramely strong!"

"Thank you for your compliments, but I have a three-days trip before me and a King who awaits my arrival. I must go" Temari said' sudden;y unfreezing and trying really hard to keep her voice calm

"Yes, my lade, you're right. Nara Shikamaru, you depart with her. I will be waiting for your depart when you come home."

"Can I go say goodbye to my fiancee, Tsunade-sama?"

"Of course, you dont even have to ask! Say hello to mr and mrs Yamanaka from me, too" Tsunade said, leaving Temari in complete shock

"Finacee..."she whispered. Obviously, many things had changed from the last time she had stepped foot here. But the was she had run out of Konoha without a word three years ago didm't leave her much to recognise now. Shikamaru took his orders and looked at her for a second, then opened the door to her. Temari walked and stood beside him

"There you go" Shikamaru stretched his hand, showing her the hallway

"I can find the way on my own, lazybutt" Temari said harshly as walking out of the door. Shikamaru followed and closed the door behind him, then caught Temari's hand and pushed her to the wall. Coming closer, he looked at her

"Why are you back?" he hissed

"Didn't you listen? I am the Sand's new messenger, since you guys killed our previous one"

"Right...The messenger...And did your brother agree to this? How come?"

"Hah. I think I'll put this in your own terms...I guess he thought fighting with me for that would be too..troublesome" Temari said with a provocative tone in her voice.

"What are you trying to do again?" Shikamaru asked and caught both her hands, pressing her against the wall. "Why did you leave without a word? What happened?"

"You ask this now? And expect me to tell you? No way pal, no friggin way. You had your chance. Let go of me!" Temari said and kiched him on the knee. "You have a finacee to say goodbye to, genious" she added while getting away from him "and I two brothers who are waiting for me to come home"

"Yeah...Right..."

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Oh my, I screwed it! Temari, Shikamaru, EVERYONE is OOC...waaaah...My efforts didnt work...HmmConfidence Nicky, confidence!...Yeah, right. Easier said than done. Anyway. What is Temari's secret? Why is does she seem to hate Konoha people so much? And why is she in such a hurry to get back home? Everything will be answered in the next chappie! See ya then!**


	3. Temari's Secret

**Hello! Third chapter up! his story is really easy, now that I think of it. I am writting a chapter each day! Hmm, if only all the fics were so easy to write, how happy I'd be!..But this one is a bit late, huh?**

**This chapter is InoShika in the beginning, but please dont flame me! I would never waste Shika-kun on Ino if there wasnt a reason. It ends up ShikaTema in the last lines. I promise Ino wont have hold of Shikamaru for long!**

**This chappie is dedicated to my little sis Joanna, **unionsagittarius **here. So yeah, she with her magic mind and words gave me the idea for this chapter.**

**Kishimoto, you'd better watch what you're doing in Naruto! And whoever got it, got it.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

They walked out of the palace, on their way out of Konoha. When they were in front of the kingdom's flower shop, Shikamaru stopped walking and lookied in. When pointed the one he was looking for, he stepped in and..

"Oi! Flower girl!" he yelled to a blond girl who was putting some lilies in a vase. Yamanaka Ino turned her face and looked at him, then her eyes enlightened.

"Shikamaru!" she said enthusiasted and ran to his side. They embraced and Ino kissed him on the cheek. "How is it that you're coming?"

"I was assigned to a little mission by Tsunade, and stopped by to say goodbye" Shikamaru said pulling her close "I'll be off for six days at longest"

"Aaah, alright. But I've got a question. Didnt you find it...troublesome to stop by telling me so?"

"Well, since it was on my way...Besides, nothing is able to make me feel bored when it's about you!" Shikamaru said those words a bit louder han the others._ (A/N: I do not believe I am writting those lines...yuck, yuck, yuck). _Temari, who stood out in front heard him and sighed "_Would he ever talk to me like that again?...And still he doesn't know..."_ she thuoght to herself as she watched Ino kissing Shikamaru and then him breaking their embrace, waving his hand goodbye. He came out and noded at Temari, to show it was time to go. Ino had come out and stood on the flower shop's doorway, arms embracing her own shoulders; watching him as he walked

"Oi!" Shikamaru suddenly turned to face her after a few steps. "I almost forgot! Say hello from Tsunade to yer parents!" he yelled as waving his hand again. "See ya!"

Then they started walking again, and after some silent mins they were crossing Konoha's borders. Tehy walked side by side for some hours, but didnt say a word to each other. Temari watched the road laid before her eyes and Shikamaru walked watching the clouds above his head. Tehn, after four hours of silent walking, he spoke and broke it

"It's gonna rain"

"What?" Temari turned and looked at him. She saw him looking at the clouds, on his face the same expression as three years ago. "You haven't changed a bit" she murmured and then stood silent

"Hm..Maybe. But I cannot say the same for you. My girl...A Lady of the Sand..." Shikamaru said and then walked up to her. "You never told me why you left; no one did"

"They do not know either. I've told nobody, not even Kankurou and Gaara" Temari said and held back to support herself on a tree

"There's something you hide"

"Yeah? What makes you think so?"

"If you were sane enough back then, you would have told me. But something happened, something that I do not know, and changed the way you felt for me, for us being together. You never let me know what this thing was. I dont even know why it was so bad to make you leave the way you did!" when finished, Shikamaru came closer to Temari but she kept him away with her arm.

"Don't. Not again. Not now" Temari said and closed her eyes, memories flying behind her shut eyelashes. "Why would you want to make it up now? After three years?" She couldn't stop the images of the old days

_FLASHBACK_

_Alone in the woods; they were once again walking, but not for long. Once they were in a distance long enough so not to be seen from the kingdom, he hugged and kissed her, pushing her against a tree_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"Besides, now you're engaged" she continued, trying to shut the window opened in the back of her mind that brought the memories forth.

"The hell I love this dumpface. Arranged marriage, rings any bells?" Shikamaru whispered and pushed her arm away; holding her hand he came closer. "I've never loved any other than you"

"And you think saying this now changes anything?" Temari asked, feeling something in her throat drowning her

"I hope so" Shikamaru caught her other hand and came closer

_FLASHBACK_

_His hands run over her back impatiently, wanting more. In need of feeling him, she let him get what desired. Her fan fell on the ground and she kissed him, keeping him there with her. By her side_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

He was now closer than ever, his breath warming her neck, his eyes right in front of hers

"No..." Temari whispered weakly as Shikamaru embraced her shoulders and kissed her. Soft and sweet, almost comforting, as if trying to make her forget whatever it was that made her feel bad. Such affection from him she never expected, and that brought tears to her eyes

_FLASHBACK_

_Grabbing tight hold of the sheets she yelled in pain, panicked. No one was with her, no sound in the room, she was alone in this and she knew. Sweatdrops on her forehead, her lips dry, her eyes wide open with fear, her sight blurry from the tears. And the pain unbearable. She howled once again like a broken animal, screaming his name in the middle of the starless night._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Tears that didnt intend to stay in her eyes run free; rolling down her face, then falling on her clothes. He didnt notice so in the beginning. But once Temari thought of what awaited home, she shut her eyes tight and the tears poured. Shikamaru felt the kiss becoming somehow salty and opened his eyes, looking up to see Temari. She opened her eyes, stopping the sobs, the llok in her eyes insoluble. She pushed him away and wiped the tears, then looked at him

"Why are you crying?" he asked

"None of your buisiness. Damn, why did you kiss me?" Temari let out, growing anger revealed in her steel blue eyes.

"Huh? I think I already..."

"One, you're engaged and you hug another woman! Two, you're cheating on your fiancee. You disgust me! And hey, if you wanted a change, why didnt you try TenTen, Hinata, or this Sakura girl, huh? Bastard. What's the big idea? I'm blond, she's blond, I'm tall she's tall, I've got blue eyes, she's got blue eyes. Damn you!" Temari shouted and punched his shoulder. But Shikamaru, instead of holding back, took both her hands in his own one, pulled her close and embraced her.

"I told you. You're better than Ino, better than any other girl."

"Let me go, why you-"

"Shut this. Too troublesome to explain, just three words. I love you"

"NO! Take this back! Leave me alone!" Temari hissed and kicked him off. "Stay just my companion for the trip! Do not ever again attempt to take me back there! Ever!" She yelled, then went on her way. Shikamaru shook his head in frustration and followed her, keeping a distance.

After hours the surroundings went golden red and slightly changed into deep purple, then blue conquered the sky and dark green fell upon the trees

"Won't we stop for the night? It's gonna rain"

"You've said so five hours ago and still it's dry."

"duh...troublesome"

"You can stop if you want, but I'll continue. It's not much left anyway, if we continue now, we'll ne there in before tomorrow's sunset. And I now have to protect myself from two Leaf bastards, so I won't stop. Don't try to make me let my guard down"

"Aaah...Enough, enough! We continue!" Shikamaru said and just followed her.

They walked for one more hour, then the leaves suddenly started shaking. An evening breeze blew through them and reached their faces, clearing their thoughts. Then the smell of wet ground reached their noses, and the next second they were facing the desert.They were standing at the end of the forest.

Shikamaru looked at Temari. She was still walking, not showing any sign of exhaution.Her pace was steady from the moment she had kicked him, her legs taking her quickly where she wanted to go. They haven't walked long after the forest, when sudden;y Shikamaru felt something wet touching his forehead. He looked up and saw the raindrops falling, then he looked at Temari. It was obvious that she'd noticed the rain as well, because she stopped for a bit.

"Hey...The forest is just a few steps back, we can..." Shikamaru suggested, but Temari stood still

"No. Now way. Not taking even a step back, I'm in a hurry! We continue!"

"What? Are you crazy? Uncovered in the storm?" Shikamaru yelled to be heard over the thunderstrucks, the rain beginning to fall harder. "We're in the middle of the desert!"

"Which I know like the back of my hand. Would I take you in there if I didn't know?"

"The storm will get us in the middle of the desert, Temari! Damn your stubborness, we might be killed!"

"What's the matter genious? Afraid of a few raindrops?" Temari said, still walking. Even in the rain, she could find her way without difficulty, and Shikamaru secretly admired her for that.

"Damn it Temari...What's the rush woman?" he asked, almost ready to give up and just keep following.

"Just wanna go home and get rid of you quickly" Temari replied, then stopped. She turned and looked at Shikamaru; or so he thought. She was looking at the forest behind him, which they now have left long behind. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then went five steps to the left and two back. She turned tpo face him again, then opened her eyes, looking to a direction Shikamaru couldn't tell. "Come here" he just heard her say

"What?" he asked bored to even say more words. He walked uo to her, though

"So? What do you say?" Temari asked, pointing to a cave's entrance

"Where did this come from?" Shikamaru asked, scratching his head

"Put your mind into work, genious. It _was _there. All I had to do was remember its exact position. So, what do you say now? Is it a shelter enough to keep your lazy butt dry?"

"Hm" Shikamaru just chuckled, and stepped in the small cave. He inspected it a bit and then sat by a wall as Temari was entering. "It's not that big..."

"Duh...Never look a horse gift at the teeth! Well anyway, I didnt expect you to say anything else!" Temari said while lighting a fire between them. She left her giant fan fall from her back to the ground, then leaned against the wall. SHikamaru could now see it. Taking over her, exhaution was obviously flowing over her. She closed her eyes, then moved her hand. She took something from the inside of her red ribbon tied to her waist, looked at it for a bit, then kisssed it softly. She held it tight for a moment, then put it back. She crawled to the entrance, then looked up outside.

Even though the rain was heavy, the sky could be seen clearly. Temari looked at the stars, two certain ones made her stare at them. "Eiji..." she whispered to herself, but unfortunately, loud enough for Shiakamaru to hear her. He thought what he heard, that it could be another man, waiting her home, but didn't intend to ask her who this Eiji was. Besides, he might have misheard.

"Stargazing, huh? You didnt change this habit, I see" he said as he lied back to his corner.

"What?" Temari turned to look at him. "Well, some things never change"

"That's what I said" Shikamaru said, then yawned. "Wheo. Must be pretty late. Wake me up 'morrow when yer ready to go, or if something happens through the night..See ya in the daylight" He yawned again and then fell asleep, just as he was.

Temari was secretly jealous of this ability of his, tobe able to sleep whenever he wanted, wherever he was. No matter the time or place, if you left him, he could fall asleep in less than a min. She looked at the stars once more, then returned to her place next to her fan. She lied as comfortably as she could, then closed her eyes. The image of a pair of sea blue-green eyes came to her, then a sweet face, and she smiled. "I love you" she whispered and fell asleep

- - -

The next morning she woke up from some sunbeams playing with her eyelashes. She put a hand in front of her face, then opened her eyes. Sitting up and rubbing them, then she remembered where she was. Standing up, she walked to the cave's entrance and looked at the sky.

"My...DAMN! I overslept..." she said and got back in. "Shikamaru!" she yelled and gave him a slight kick at the shoulder, as she lifted her fan. He didnt even move

"Damn, sleepyhead...WAKE UP!" she yelled and kneeled beside him, shaking him. "It's almost midday, we have to go, WAKE UP DAMN YOU!"

"Aaaaargh...Troublesome woman, what do you want from my life? YEOW!"

Temari had just punched him on the head. "Wake up, we're late. We should be already halfway from here"

"Alright, alright..." Shikamaru stood up and walked out of the cave. He looked around, scratched his head and then turned to Temari. "Any idea where we are and which way we go?"

"Of course.Desert is my home. I could never get lost in here" Temari said, then walked in the front again, energetic after sleeping in the night. "And just because we overslept, we'll keep it in a high pace today. I dont wanna spend another night away. I've already been five days away from my house"

"What?! More walking AND faster? Shit, you've gotta be kidding!"

"No"

"Oh, just how great"

He didn't say more, though. Too troublesome to fight with her for what pace they would keep. Temari could be really fast if she wanted, and Shikamaru had the chance to realise it quickly. He watched her walk as fast as she could, sometimes almost running. He liked this image of hers. They've been silently walking like four or five hours, when Temari saw her kingdom shading the horizon's line.

"Yes! Yes! I made it! It's my Sand!" she said full of happiness and started running, this time really quickly.

"Hey, wait!" Shikamaru said and followed, trying to run, but the best his legs gave him was a faster walking.

They ran like that for almost an hour, and then Temari reached the Sand's borders. She saw the guards in the gate and greeted them, then she stood and waited for Shikamaru as she was talking with the two men guarding Sand's gate. When he finally caught up with her, she slightly punched his shoulder

"Slower than a snail. Well, come on now" she said and took her way, heading for Gaara's palace.

They walked in the kingdom, on the road, everyone shook their hands to her. When they walked in the palace, the people did the same thing. Temari was greeted everywere she stepped foot;everyone knew her, everyone calling her their Lady. Shikamaru was impressed. The years she had spent in Konoha, her attitude didn't let him think that she'd ever be treated or faced with respect and admiration. But here they were in the Sand, not in Konoha, and here Temari was of the royal family, she was a Lady.

"You're...pretty loved here." Shikamaru let out as they were heading to Gaara's door

"Well, they're my people. They love me and I love and protect them, I care for them. There are some strong bound created when you're Head of a place, either you want it or not." Temari knocked her brother's door and there was a whispered reply like "Who?"

"I guess so" said Shikamaru as they were entering Gaara's room.

"Hey bro!" Temari said to the lonely figure in the room that was standing in front of a wide open window.

Gaara turned and looked at her, eyes fixed on her. "Temari, welcome home." he said, then turned and looked at Shikamaru. "And he is?"

"I am Temari's companion on her way home, assigned to do so by our Hokage, Tsunade-sama. Nara Shikamaru." said the young man.

"Nara Shikamaru, huh? The Shadow user, do I remember right?"

"Yes"

"Temari," Gaara turned and faced his sister again "what news do you bring home?"

"Just the ones you expected, Gaara" Temari said almost solemnly. "They will not"

"I see..." Gaara said and folded his hands, sitting at his desk. A tired look spread itself on his face and his eyes were serious. "Did you learn who killed our messenger?" He let out in a sigh.

"They say it was no one from inside the Hidden Leaf...They assume it was Uchiha Itachi, already exiled. They say he's the only exiled one with the ability to know we're in war with them."

"Uchiha Itachi..." Gaara whispered "Fine. Well done, Temari. You can go home now. Thank you"

"Alright." Temari replied and turned, ready to go. Shikamaru didnt know what else to do, so just followed her. On her way to her house, they met even more people that greeted her with happy looks on their faces; Temari had a good word for everyone. She was still in a hurry, though. Sionce they were already _in _the Sand, Shikamaru wondered why she was still rushing to go home.

"May I ask why you're still in such a hurry?" he asked her as she took a small road, which led to a wonderful little house, with a huge garden and a wooden fench carved in unimaginable shapes.

"Well, to give you some supplies to stand the desert...It's going to have a hurricane, and I wouldn't want you to get lost, so I'll give you a map and a few directions..." Temari said. "Then you'll leave"

"Thanks" Shikamaru said and looked around, it was the ending of a wonderful sunset. The colors were binding perfectly with each other.

_"I just hope he's already asleep_..." Temari whispered to herself , then looked around. "Hm...Kinda late, ain't it?"

"Yeah, right.."

Then Temari opened the front door. Darkness greeted them, until Temari turned on the lights. She looked around and sighed, almost everything as she left it. The curtains, though, were not parted, but united. Temari went and loked out of her windows, they definitely needed to be cleaned.. She sat on her kneeles, suporting her back on the wall. "Home, sweet home..."

Then footsteps were heard, and a faster pace, someone running. A door crashing open, rushed foorsteps going downstairs and then a scream. "Mommy!"

_Oh..great...He's awake.._ Temari froze and turned her head slowly, a blond little boy standing at the bottom of the stairway. Blue eyes fixed on her, big blue gliding with happiness. "Eiji..."

"Mommy! Mommy, mommy, you're home!" The kid spoke and run to her, then jumped in her embrace and hugged her tightly. "I missed you mum!"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**GOTCHA! Heeheee...I bet only a few of you understood what was going on from the previous chapter, eh? Hmm...See, Eiji is Temari's son, if that's not clear. But I am not revealing the father until the very late chapters! ...Hmm...Wait to see Shika-kun's reaction in the next chapter! I already laugh when thinking of what I'll write! Hope you liked! See ya!**


	4. Another man in Temari's life

**Hey there buddies! I'm almost done with my exams, just four ones left, and then...I think I'll be updating EVERY day! Hmm..No, no big words. I promise that I'll TRY to update every day.**

**This chappie is a heart's dedication to my little teddy elephant(I never had teddybears, just an elephant) for being with me everytime no one else listened, and making me think of what I'll write and how. This story is written when embracing him, each chapter I write I hug him and find the courage to do it. Just so you know**

**Note:Temari's son speaks a little weird, I know. It's because he's missing teeth. I do not know if the replacement of the letters is right, I did it as I suppose he would speak. If you do not understand, tell me. I just replaced "s" with "th" and "r" with "l"**

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

"Eiji...You little brat, why aren't you sleeping, huh?" Temari said playfully.

"I've been waiting fol you, mum! Obaa-than is not much of a stoly-tellel, I mithed youl stolies mum! Youl faily taleth!"

Hm...Well, now, here I am. Where's your big guy, eh?" Temari said and kneeled, letting the boy stand.

"Thele!" Eiji said and brought a teddy bear from the stairs. "He mithed you too!"

"Hm...He did?"

"Yeh..."

"Eiji, now...Mommy is very very happy to see you too..." Temari said and kissed her son on the forehead, "...but she's got a little bit of work left. Can you do mum a favor?"

"Thule mum!"

"Can you go to bed, and try to get some sleep? I'll be with you in half an hour or so."

"Ok mum. But, can you filtht tell me thomething?"

"What is it?"

"That guy ovel thele..." said Eiji, shaking his head to a frozen Shikamaru's direction "ith he youl boyfliend?"

"...What are you talking about there! Of course not, I love no other man than you! He's from the Hidden Leaf, he was sent to accomodate and protect me on my way back here. He's just an old friend of mine."

"Oh..okay mum..I gueth I'll leave you finith youl job now...Goodnight!" said the boy and hugged Temari. She lifted him in her embrace, placed a soft kiss on his left cheek and then let him stand on the stairs.

"Goodnight angel" she said as watching her son going slowly upstairs, yawning and hugging the teddy bear tightly.

Once the kid was out of sight, Temari turned on her heel to face Shikamaru. Completely frozen, he turnd and looked at her, surprised. Disbelief was so obvious in his eyes, that it annoyed her. Was he _that_ stunned? And for what? Because of actually seeing her act...affectionately?

"What...What was that? Who.."he finally managed to let out

"Didn't hear? Eiji is my son" Temari said, then stood up, and started a quest for the desrt's map she had drawn long long ago.

"Your..." Shiakamru said, still a bit frozen. "That's why you wanted to come home quickly, right?"

"What do you say? Right mr.Genious. How obvious, huh? AHA! Found you!" Temari threw the map on the floor and in her small kitchen. She opened the cupboards, searching for sth like a bottle to give him water to take with. When she found it, she filled it with water and took it out, leaving it next to the map.

"He..He looks pretty much like...you"

"Well, since I am his mother" she said, searching for something to put the items in.

"How...old is he?"

"He'll be three in a couple o' months"

"...and...where is his father?" Shikamaru asked hesitently. Temari suddenly stood still. It was her time to freeze now. The bag she had just found fell from her hands and she clenched her fists. The memories, not just one, flashed in again. A window opened to the past she couldn't close.

"I...don't know...Don't remember...I dont know"

"You know, Temari, maybe I'm missing her, or else...Do you know who his father is?"

It was really hard to keep it down now, to hold it back. Temari brought her hands to her head and held it tight, covering her ears. She collapsed and fell on her knees, shivering.

_FLASHBACK_

_Once they had let go, just holding hands, she looked at him deep in his grey-brown eyes, smiling. "Would you still love me if I became old and ugly faster than you?"_

_"That's something that can happen, but yes. I loved you, I love you and I'll love you for as long as my heart beats...Till the end of my life." he said and embraced her once more, holding her tight. She kissed him and fopr once more, they were lost in their world, uncaring for the outside one_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"No..." she whispered as she felt her eyes burning;she shut them tight

_FLASHBACK_

_Something had told her that she shouldn't have stayed to listen. But her stubborness to go even against herself...Look at her now, how pathetic she looked. An ordinary forest's sound had tricked her, and here she lied, helpless._

_Caught out of guard; a mistake the Wind Mistress would never and should never make. But she did it, and now she was suffering the concequences. The pain was unbearable, her whole body felt like someone was burning her alive. And it hurt in the inside too. Her soul disgusted, her stomach turned and she felt she wanted to throw up._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"...No..." she repeated, a bit louder this time, without understanding it though. The so-far forming tears became huge and blurred her sight, they rolled down her face and fell on the floor. She embraced her shoulders, trying to hold them back, but they wouldn't listen and kept gushing up from her eyes.

_FLASHBACK_

_It might have just been over, but she still didn't want to face it. It might have been difficult and painful, but this was just an end, the beginning of something new. Something that she would have to face, sooner or later, and get through it alone. She had nobody by her side. She had chosen this. It was her own decision to tell nobody. But now there was a life depending on her to survive, she couldn't just ignore it._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"NO!" she screamed in the end, not able to control herself anymore, not able to hold on, but not willing to either. She cried, harder now, even thatn before in the forest. "Shut this, damn you!" she said between sobs, trying to bury all the memories again, to ease the rebirthing pain. Couldn't he, the genious see the obvious? She didn't want to talk about the past, there was something in those three years that hurt her.

"Ok, ok, I got it. You..." Shikamaru said kneeling next to her, embracing her. He dried her tears, kissing her eyes and forehead. "I'm sorry. I won't talk about it"

"Why did you have to?...Why did you even started it again? Damn, you're so stupid!" Temari whispered and held on him, tightly holding his shirt. "I don't know who Eiji's father is, so I don't even know if he's still alive or not, or where he is..."

"I won't push it further, I'll just leave it for now. I see that I brought you nothing but pain and memories that you'd like to forget...So just give me the directions you said Ill need and I'm off." Shikamaru said and stood up, then helped her stand.

"Yes. That's what I should have done from the very beginning." Temari replied, drying the last remains of the tears on her eyes. She took the map from the floor, opened it, and showed him the way he should follow. She explained what the points and the dots were, and told him what he should do if he got hit from the hurricane when still in the desert. Then she folded the map and handed it to him. She put some more things in the bag and once ready, she gave it to him.

"I just hope I didn't complicate you more" Temari said as they headed to her front door. She opened it and they walked outside.

"I don't think so. Well, thanks anyway. I just hipe I'll be able to return to Konoha in the five-six days I've told Ino"

"Shikamaru..." Temari caught his hand and looked at him.

"What?" He glared back.

"...Be careful."

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you my inspiration for keeping this alive! Heeheeee...You know, yesterday morning I woke up feeling completely useless and with the thought of deleting this story. Because I wouldn't get reviews for the last new chapter, the one before this, and I felt so sad...So this is dedicated to the ones that reviewed! Thank you my friends! See ya sooooon!**


	5. Tsunade is lecturing, Sasuke blushing!

**New chappie! Hoped to get this done quickly, because it's really funny! Or at least, to me**

**This one does not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

The day Shikamaru left assigned to a mission she gave him, was really productive for Tsunade. After him she had to sign papers, had to check if their supplies were enough to keep them to the end of the year, had to get informed of the number of their weapons and make new orders if needed...And, as every good wife, she had to go home and have food ready for her husband. After all, Jiraiya really liked Tsunade's cooking.

Her afternoon was not that easy, though. She was the Head of Konoha, but was only because the prince wasn't married yet. And his seventeenth birthday, the limit for him, was close...very very close. So, that afternoon, she thought she ought to say a few words to Uchiha Sasuke.

She sent someone to bring him, and when the loner Uchiha offspring came, she wasn't sitting at her desk, but was standing in front of her window. Once the prince got in, she turned to him and tilted her head, then he nodded and stood silent in front of her.

"You wanted to tlak to me?" he asked in his usual cold voice.

Since nine years ago, when his father and mother, the King and Queen of Konoha were murdered, you couldn't say a word with him and he answering without this tone in his voice. And it wouldn't change, not even when he was surprised or, too rarely, happy."Yes, Sasuke. You see, it's about the kingdom." Tsunade said and walked up to him.

"Is something wrong? I see that you're taking care of everything perfectly."

"Thanks, prince, but it's not about _that_. You see, your 17th birthday is close, and so..."

"It is? Really? Oh right...In four months from now" Sasuke said, emphasizing the word "four" and looking at her.

"Well, it seems far, but it's not at all. And this is not a time to joke around, my prince. You know that I will not be Head of Konoha forever! I'm just Head in replacement of you! Until you...get married"

"WHAT?!" For one time in his life, the first time of all, his cold tone in the voice disappeared and its place took surprise and irritation. "Married? What are you talking about?! Why anyway?"

"Because you cannot heir the kingdom if not. That's why. And because I know you didn't even think of this, I have to tell you a thing. If you do not find a girl to love and marry until your birthday, or at least be the Queen by your side, then I'll have to chose one for you."

"What?! Hey, wait a min! What do you care? Find a girl to love, she says..." Sasuke was really funny at this state. Sweatdrops on his temple, his eyes wide open and if he wouldn't notice, he'd soon have a mouth hanging open.

"Yes, and you'd better do it. The laws your honored father set say it clearly. If you dont come up with a possible Queen until your birthday, then I have the right to find one for you. And if you do not accept her, you'll have a three-month period to search on your own again. If you still do not find one, then the kingdom will never go to you. I'm becoming Queen and officially Head of Konoha. And so the chain of the Uchiha clan being kings breaks." Tsuande said, and looked up to see him.

No one had ever again the chance to see him like this. Eyes wide open, jaw hanging, fists clenched and body shaking, ready to errupt like a volcano. He looked like a giant dancing puppet.

"Now wait just a sec. You say that if I don't find a girlfriend 'till me birthday I can't heir MY kingdom? HELL! Who created this stupid law?"

"Your father, Sasuke"

"Damn ol' man!...How the hell am I gonna..."

"Well, once you fall in love with a girl, go tell her! Just in thought of becoming Queen, no matter who she is, she'll immediately say yes...Besides, young prince Sasuke is...pretty deisred among the girls of Konoha..and not only." Tsuande said and smiled.

Surprising her again, Sasuke blushed. Not the regular blushing he would get if being a normal person, just a faint of light red, but it still, he was blushing!

"And how the hell am I gonna..."

"Don't worry. Every girl's dream is to become princess, queen. And with the certain prince for husband...It's quite possible that every girl in Konoha would kill each other-"

"Great idea" Sasuke smirked

"...just to be the one who's left for you." Tsunade said and looked at him.

"Why do I have to get marired to be King? I don't want anyone! Can't I be the king myself, and if with the years I love someone, marry her then? Besides, I never had a girlfriend! Why get one now?" Irritated till his limits, Sasuke hit his fist on the wall. "It's none of your damn buisiness what I'll do in my personal life, old woman! And if you want the kingdom so desperately, then speak it! Don't hide behind your stupid "birthday" crap and some stupid law my father happened to create!"

"Calm down IMMEDIATELY!" Tsunade shouted, hitting her fist on the desk as she was losing her temper. Surprised, Sasuke lowered his hand and she took a deep breath. "Look here, young man. You might be the prince, the only heir to the long line of Uchiha kings and queens, the only heir for this damn land we're standing on, but I don't care. Your father put you in my hands to take care of and have you under my sight, and I'll watch you! I don't give a damn what you're gonna do about this stupid frozen heart you carry, but if you're gonna hurt ANY girl in here and make her suffer your pain by asking her to be your wife in force, then find yourself a way out of Konoha! You'll learn to love your people, and this will the girl you'll find teach you. And IF you even DARE leaving this matter aside, then I'll find you a girl to marry and put you in some tactic! She'll teach you a lesson to remember!" she yelled, pointing at his chest.

"...Damn...Why should I be born a king's son?"

"Fate is not always kind" Tsunade said ironically

"Besides, I don't like girls around me! They're noisy and they shout, always talking, screaming and this irritationg habit to cry of them..." Sasuke grimaced in disgust only in the thought of it.

Tsunade blinked. "So that's it, huh?" she asked, not addressing someone in particular. "That's why you never had a girlfriend, even though they were always chasing you...That's why you always dumped Ino and that poor pink-haired girl -what was her name?- that you were teammates...Who could have imagined...The prince...My my my...The kngdom is falling to ashes, way I see it. Oh my...The prince is...Let me guess, that's why you hang out with no girl? You...You like boys!"

They were both surprised from Tsunade's conclusion. She, in realisation of what the kingdom's prince and only heir to it being actually gay, and Sasuke from the stupidness of women. The look on his face was readable enough and in his eyes the words he would curse Tsunade with were clear. At that instant, he closed his mouth and smirked.

No one of them noticed, though, that the door was open and that at the doorway stood duke Jiraiya. But no one noticed, and Tsunade was laughing now.

"Way I see it, Sasuke, my wife turned out to lose some from the many hours she spents working...Plus the age..." Jiraiya's voice was heard and Tsunade's laughter was vanished. "Besides, who guarantees what prince Sasuke is? I think you're getting old, darling" he said, and the outcome of Tsunade and Sasuke was fantastic.

It was Tsunade's turn to blush and stand surprised; jaw dropped, and Sasuke's turn to laugh at her. He laughed as never before, and when he finally felt able to control it, an ironic smile made its way to his lips. "Hn...Got tight-assed, didn't you granny?" he said and smirked.

"Prince Sasuke! I must ask you to joke around no further! You have to find this girl, whoever she is, and make her the Queen of this land and your heart." Jiraiya said, looking at Sasuke.

"Tsunade smiled; it seemed that Jiraiya had some other gifts than writting perverted stories too. Obviously he had some leader's abilities he hadn't shown out yet. And it was those who made the ironic smile on Sasuke's face disappear.

"Damn...What do I need a queen for, anyway?" He asked

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other, surprised. "Is he...Is he serious?" Tsunade whispered to Jiraiya.

"I thin he is..." answered the duke, then turned to Sasuke. "Won't you need an heir of your own?"

Sasuke was one again surprised, and blushing. What a day! "Wh...What are you..."

"Or do you think you can have one on your own?" Tsunade added with a smile.

Now the color on his face was the same with the one his favorite vegetables have on, tomato red. He looked at them, then spoke. "What are you two talking about?"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Hiya! Another chappie on! I dont see reviews, and I worry...I am taken down when not, so I decided to delete this from here. Please review. There are some who want to read this story...Please review!**


	6. Where have you been?

**Hiya once again and I'm here! Thanks to the two best friends Akylina and Jared, but for the other people who reviewed this too, I'm not deleting it. Aky you left four reviews, Jared you two...Thank you so much, both! **

**At least for the moment, I won't delete it. **

**Guys, don't leave me without reviews, I'm getting my hard time lectured by my inner side! And I have to tell you, it's even worse than Inner Sakura! **

**This chappie is a special dedication from the bottom of my heart to my very best friend, Akylina (jenny-R) for her 15th birthday, today!** **Happy birthday, anata! I hope my gift got there on time, didn't it? How I'd kill to see the look on your face!**

**think I'll have to get on with the story, no?**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

"You will need an heir; an offspring of your own to keep the bloodline of the Uchiha clan going, don't you think?" Jiraiya explained with arms crossed.

"That's what you'll need the queen for...and not only. They say that behind every great man lives a clever woman."

"That's imposible! Women can't be clever! Besides, all the girls in Konoha are stupid!" Sasuke said.

Irritated and annoyed, tired of trying to talk some sense into the stubborn boy in front of her, Tsunade hit her fist on her desk and shouted.

"IT'S OVER! You leave IMMEDIATELY! Go home, sit and put your damn mind into some sense, look around you and judge. You'll have four months to decide! The next time you'll step foot into this office, you'd better do it with that girl with you!" she yelled, and Sasuke chuckled as she pointed at the door with her index finger.

"Hn...Neurotic woman, aren't you?" He said as he was walking out. He walked down the corridor, got out and looked up, the sun greeting him with its beams.

"Why should I be the one left...If he's alive...He's still the older one..." Sasuke thought, but then he remembered why Itachi was exiled. "Yeah, right. On the other hand, if he became king, Konoha would fall all the way down to the broken kingdoms..." he whispered, and went on his way back to the palace.

He hadn't taken even twenty steps away, when he heard someone's voice calling his name. "Prince Sasuke!"

He turned and faced one of Tsunade's messengers for inside the village. "Duh...What is it?" he asked, hoping not to get lectured in the middle of the kingdom.

"A message from the battlefield just came, sir! We're...we're about to be beaten! We need your help! She sent me to tell you and lead you to the battlefield!"

"What?! Beaten? Why didn't you say it earlier, man! Let's go!"

They ran to the village's gate and crossed it without a look, then headed out at the woods, to where Konoha's army was running out of men; losing to the Sand.

"We're in a bit of bad situation?" Sasuke asked one of the warriors as he was taking his place at the front rows, not fearing, taking out his kunai and surinken. He didn't wait for an answer though, he immediately begun attacking the enemy.

"My lord! How did you get here, prince?" the man asked, then Sasuke threw a surinken to block one of the enemy's kunai to hit the man beside him.

"No time to wonder; now we fight! Konoha doesn't lose to ANYONE!" he said, and kept fighting. When both sides were out of blades, all kunai and surinken fallen on the ground, everyone started gathering chakra. Sasuke enabled his sharingan and looked at the enemy, signs of exhaution he was trying to find. And he found them them. Some of them, weaker and maybe not so courageous as the others, were fighting behind the main body of their army, all gathered up in an easy target. He prepared his chidori, and, while looking at them, he threw his hand at the front.

The sparkling blue energy ball left his hand and headed to them, in complete balance and harmony with the gravity in its flight to the target. When reached the Sand's army, it fell on somebody's hand and exploded. That was it.

The explosion dissolved their concentration and they were all thrown away by the force of the hit. Surprised from the explosion's sound and the smoke behind them, the warriors of the army's main body dropped their guard and every little one of them turned to see what was happening behind them. When the smoke got down, and the rest were visible, there was revealed an image that could mean only one thing. Mass murder. They were all hit, not everyone dead, but the field behind them had captured all the enemy's army's attention. Sasuke smiled, with just one hit he had managed to vanish their backup and get their attention off of Konoha's army.

"NOW!" He shouted, pointing to the Sand's clueless and confused men. "Hit them with ALL YOU'VE GOT!!!" he said loud, uniting every soldier under the certainty of his voice. He himself didn't sit at the back as many kings do, but he prepared his chidori in his right hand, ready to help his warriors.

Taken by by the success and accuracy of his previous shot, and also, by the all-newborn courage that was running through Konoha's men, he didn't notice he had dropped his guard too. And this was proved to be a fatal mistake.

One of the Sand's men, one of those blown away from his chidori, had managed to crawl on the ground, and settle himself behind some rocks at Konoha's men' side. He was right behind their prince, and though his own legs were completely destroyed from the explotion, he was bleeding to death and his left arm felt like shattered into millions of pieces, his mind was still clear enough to make the thought that if he took down Konoha's army's leader, then the already tired men would lose all courage and will to fight. And so, driven by this madness that makes a hurt animal fight harder to avoid death, this madness of a broken man who knows he doesn't have anything else to do but die, he found the insane strength to crawl in the battlefield, go behind Konoha's men, hide himself behind some rocks and gather the leftovers of his chakra. Once he felt his hand shaking by the power flowing in his veins, he gave all his will to this blast and shoot, targeting Sasuke from behind.

How could the prince ever imagine what was happening? Without noticing, he had disabled the sharingan too. And since he was just looking at the front, at the rest of the Sand's men, he couldn't have noticed in any way. So it's not a suprise and it must come as a surprise to nobody that he didn't sense the danger crawling behind him. The soldier of the Sand had all his time to target Sasuke, shoot and watch his energy ball head to the Uchiha boy. And the prince stood unprotected to the enemy.

Nothing stood in the few meters that seperated the prince and the enemy's soldier. The sky was clear, the vision too, the atmosphere regular. Tha shot was accurate. Success.

The green energy ball hit him unexpectedly, right on the back. Right on the mark of the Uchiha clan on his shirt. At that instant, it was like time froze for some moments.

Sasuke didn't know what hit him, how, when, why. His eyes opened wide and he felt his body paralysing, not listening to the orders his mind was sending. _"DON'T FALL! DON'T FALL! HOLD ON!"..._Nothing. He felt his knees shaking, paralysing and he slowly fell on them. As he continued falling, he turned a bit to the left and before feeling a strong and hard wave of pain hitting him, he saw a figure behind the rocks. The figure of a man laying hurt badly, an arm folded awkwardly and another laying stretched, fingers opened. Frozen. Hiseyes were looking straight to Sasuke, and what he saw in those eyes before the man breathless closed them, it frightened Sasuke, and sent cold shivers across his spine. The man was dead. And the last thing Sasuke could think of before the awful pain make him lose his senses was that it was _him _who had offered that man the broken body, it was him who had lead that man, even one of the enemy's men, to face his own death.

And with that he closed his eyes, falling on the ground senseless.

Those images hadn't lasted more than five or six seconds, yet they felt like an eternity. The sudden hit, the sound of his shirt's material tearing, the unbearable pain, the look in that man's eyes and then the fear. Fear. Dark and cold, empty and painful, even more than the one on his back, piercing through his soul. A different kind of fear of all those he had felt before.

Admist all the pain he could feel it, and that was what beat him unconcious. The fear.

When he woke up, trying to understand where he was and reminiscent what had happened, he felt his body moving. He slowly opened a pair of ebony black eyes, and tried to clear his view.

The sky. Clouded. Foliages shaking. Whatevre he would see if laying on a tree's roots.

Surprised, he turned his head to the left, but did it so carelessly, that a hard pain hit him in the inside, that he closed his eyes tight and tried hard to fight back the urge to scream. He stayed still for some moments, then turned slowly and opened his eyes again.

Trees, landscapes behind them, a butterfly. People walking beside him. The man next to him seemed to be holding something...Something that...they were carrying him on? And if yes, why? And where were they taking him?

He tried to move his hands or legs, but the pain he felt made him give up on the efforts either he wanted it or not. He was wounded. And the wounds or the wound hurt so much that he couldn't even move his head without getting a hard pain. He felt so much pain that couldn't even move. Staying still meant weakness. And being aware of the fact that he was weak was the more unbearable painful of all.

The butterfly he saw flying came and sat on the tip of his nose.

All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the moment they would stop, or at least let him down.

After what seemed what like an eternity, he felt he was left on a steady ground. He opened his eyes immediately and heard them sparkling.

"He's badly wounded. We have to call someone to take care of him"

"Yes, but who?"

"Hokage-sama, she's an excellent doctor. The Head of the medic-nins."

"Won't she be busy?"

"Well, the PRINCE is hurt. If nothing else, then she'll do it because it's him."

"Yes, you're right. Let's go"

They left. Sasuke could feel it. And when he opened his eyes, he certified it. Nobody was with him. He was all alone, left -from what he could see- at the inside of Konoha's gate. He sighed; when wounded, it sucked to be a prince.

Suddenly, he felt a shadow falling on him, someone was coming in the kingdom. He stretched as much as he could and looked at the shadow's direction, to see to who it belonged.

He expected to see anyone butthe one he saw. It was the last person he would ever imagine, but there this person stood, with big green eyes wide open in surprise.

"S...Sasuke-kun?"

He thought he misunderstood. His mind must jave been playing tricks to him, because the figure he couldn't find in his memories of the last five years. He looked just once, then turned his eyes away. _It had to be playing games_. Yes, yes, the voice was not it, it was...similar. He looked at her, and saw what he would never even imagine she became.

He last saw her when she was twelve. Since he too was twelve back then, she had to be seventeen now, just like him. What he remembered of her just didn't exist anymore. Not her long pink hair, neither her always blissful smile, nor her tomboyish body with the wide forehead. Not her forehead protector, neither her happy eyes, nor her look of admiration when looking at him. No red shade on her cheeks as everytime she saw him. No. The girl he'd kept in mind had disappeared. And if he considered her a caterpillar when twelve, now she was the most beautiful butterfly in the whole world.

One thing hadn't changed. The color in her eyes. that particular green, emerald. Even in the sunset, now. Sparkling and shining on its own, so vivid that was breathtaking.

There was no doubt. It was her.

"Where have you been?"

It was a really hard day for Tsunade.

"What did you say?"

Admist all the problems she had to solve, she had to babysit that stubborn 17year old prince! And now he went and got himself hurt! "How...How bad?"

"He's too bad, we fear, but we're just soldiers, not doctors, and so we can't judge properly. We may overestimate or understimate the wound." the two soldiers said.

"What did it came from? Blade or chakra?"

"Chakra"

"Dammit" Tsunade said and stood up. "I'm not so good with wounds made from chakra, but...I think I can handle it." she said as she was leaving a note on her desk_. "Damn you old lady...Your darling was right. You go and ban the only one in Konoha to heal such wounds...You're getting old Tsunade! Wake up_!" she thought to herself, then followed the two soldiers.

As they were walking, from the back of the corridor, Tsunade saw her officer Shizune coming, running. "Tsunade-sama!"

"Not now, Shizune. If..."

"It's a message from the MIst, my lady! The answer to our question!"

"I don't have time to read it, Shizune! Just tell me what it says!"

"...THey're allies to the Sand"

"Not them too...Then all we've got left to ask..."

"Is the kingdom of thr Hidden Cloud..." Shizune said.

"Do it. Write a letter to them, go find Iruka and tell him to send it. I have to go now, it's an emergency. If I'm not back in five hours, tell my husbant to have an eye on things for a while. Let's go" she turned to the soldiers.

He was exactly as she remembered him. Maybe imagining how he'd be, but he was exactly like that. His black hair, his obsidian eyes; still so sorrowful, his pale face,his whole figure. His complexion, his look in the eyes, everything the same, only grown older. He was the same with the boy she'd fell in love with back then, yet so different. He was once again so handsome in his endless sorrow that she knew she could fall in love with him over and over, and just never stop loving him.

But there were secrets in the past he didn't knew and they just wouldn't let her love him again the way she wanted. Never again.

"Where have you been, Sakura?"

He still remembered her name?

"...Prince Sasuke...You're..." she said and took some steps to him.

"The hell girl! I've been fighting, what did you expect? I've asked you a question though, and you didn't answer. So I'll ask you again. Where have you been the last five years, Sakura?"

"Away"

She avoided to look him in the eyes, she knew that in such a battle she would instantly surrender. She could never resist him when he was looking at her with those eyes. She went closer though, and casted a look on him. He seemed to be okay. "You're badly wounded...But you're alright."

"Feh. It's _WAR _we're talking about. If I want to defend my people, I have to fight. I have to be strong, or else, either I want it or not, Konoha will fall. Besides, only the strongest will survive in battles like the one I've given." He looked at her, and then he tried to sit up. The pain was not so hard this time, so he closed his eyes, clenched his fists and bit his lower lip until he felt he'd be able to control it; it was still tough enough. He sat, though, and slowly opened his eyes. His view was blurry and he blinked a few times to clear it. He wanted to be able to see her, to recognise the way she was talking, to see the words coming out of those lips he once so loved and felt he could kill for.

"You are strong" Sakura said, then looked at the source of the small river of blood. "My..You're still bleeding hard!" she whispered, then she noticed a scratch on his fave, that was bleeding too. She brought her hand to his left cheek and held it for a moment, his blood running on the outside of her hand. He caught her hand and pushed it away, her fingers brushing against the little scrath, blood on her fingertips.

"You're bleeding..." she kneeled beside him, then looked at his back again. "Let me take a look at it. It looks really bad. It can be nothing, but if it's something serious, I want to know."

"..If you stop this damn pain I'll kiss you" Sasuke said, looking at her.

Memories flashing in, no, she shouldn't let them. She looked at him and smiled, trying to take what he said as a joke. "Take off your shirt...Can you?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course I can. Ok, I'm wounded, but not s bad!" He said and smiled ironically.

His body seemed to have a different opinion though.

"YEOW!" He yelled in pain once he tried.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you. Come here." Sakura said and went even closer. She untied the laces that kept his shirt. She pulled the shirt off of his shoulders and looked at the wound on his back. Her breath stopped. "My...that's a wound to talk about! I wonder how you're still alive! I've been healing people for so long, but it's the first time I see a wound like this. It's the worst and the biggest I've ever seen! No wonder you've lost so much blood!" she said. She got rid of her bag, dropping it on the ground and she opened it. She took a small bottle in which she stored a liquid with the color of the dawning sky. "This might hurt a bit" she whispered in his ear and took off the bottle's cork with her teeth. She spilled a bit of it on her fingers and smeared it on the skin around and on the wound to clean it. She felt Sasuke twitch and held him steady from the shoulders. "Don't move." She held the phiall with her left hand's index finger and spilled a little bit on the wound itself, while, with her right hand, she took a small piece of cotton from her bag and put it on the wound. Then, she started gathering chakra, and she felt him twitch again.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"DON'T MOVE!" Sakura said, then, faster than she knew she could, she took off the cotton and placed her left hand on the wound. Her chakra, flowing from her fingertips, passed into his skin and the wound started healing itself. Sakura lowered her head to have a better view, she didn't want anything to go wrong now. Sasuke felt the warmth of her breath on his skin and shivered, her touch felt incredibly good.

Not only she was back, but, even though he didn't know for how long she'd stay or if she'd leave again, and he didn't care to learn, he could feel her touch on him, and that was all he could ever ask for. Relieving, healing, warm and just for him. He closed his eyes and let himself in her hands, just like an infant in its mother's embrace.

Once the wound healed, and her chakra faded, Sakura let herself rest on his back, exhausted. They stayed like that for a bit, sitting silently next to each other, breathing hard as if they had ran a marathone.

"That was...pretty exhausting. I need some rest to recover too, I don't believe I used so much chakra just for one wound!" she whispered as he turned to her. "What?"

He was looking at her, right in the eyes. The battle she didn't want herself into, she just got it.

"You made it. You healed me" Sasuke said, stretching his right hand to catch hers. You made the pain go away."

"That's why I am a medic-nin for, apart from a kunoichi..."she said as he brought his face closer.

"And I shall repay you. I promised I would. A prince never breaks a promise." he whispered and leaned to her, then sealed her lips with his.

A few meters away, the two soldiers and Tsunade were walking to the gate.

"And you left him all alone?" Tsunade was saying

"It wasn't for long...You will be able to cure him, won't you?" One of them asked.

Tsunade raised her head and looked at the body that lsat a few steps away. A bit of strange shape for one body. They were two, and from what she could see, the wound was somehow healed. She then noticed the pink haired girl, the one of the two bodies.

"Tsunade-sama? Won't you..." the other soldier said, they hadn't saw them yet. Tsunade smiled.

"Look at him and you'll know...He's getting the best medicine in the world"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKYLINA! Happy, happy, happy 15th birthday, koichii! This chappie that you so longed for when I told you about is finally here! Special dedication to you! **

**So, everyone, did you like it? I started adding the rest of them in the story...See, it is time this NejiTen appearing...It started -In my mind- as a NejiTen story, and the only thing it's not is NejiTen! Wheo..Anyway. Hope you all liked! After ALL that, I think I'll need a break! Review please!**

**P.S. It took me 8 A4 pages to write this...**

**See ya!**


	7. Tables Turn

**hiya! hey, sorry to make you wait that long, but I really needed a break till I go on with this story! You'll never guess how inspiration came to me, and wrote this chapter at 5 in the morning! I watched "P.O.T.C. 3" last night, and...Well, it WAS inspiring. But you'll have to wait till later chapters to find out WHAT kind of inspiration I got! Hope you like**

**Sorry this is so small**

**Does not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Was it a dream or not, after four days no one of the two could still tell. And they didn't care. They just wanted to hold the memory.

This first day after the kiss, Tsunade had come with Sasuke's to co-soldiers and lifted him, taking him to the palace. He didn't know what happened next afternoon, tha last thing he remembered was drinking something Tsunade gave him and falling asleep. As far as h heard though, no one saw Sakura after the kiss. None had seen her for those four days, and he wanted to see her. But neither Tsunade nor his servants would let him get off of his bed.

He kept repeating that he was the prince, that his will should be a law and that he could go wherever he wanted in _his _palace, but still, no one listened.

After four days, he heard that Sakura was seen out in the kingdom. And he heard her say that she needed to take care of some things at her house, and that's why nobody saw her. And how _did_ he hear her?

She came to the palace to see the prince, to see how he was going. Or so she said to the gurads and servants to let her in. When she came in his room, once the door was closed behind her, she brought her hands to her mouth, surprised.

"What are you looking at like that? I'm not some kind of zombie you know. I'm alive and I'm...pretty well now that's you're here.

She lowered her hands and her eyes travelled to the bed before her, to the young man that was sitting there. With his eyes fixed on her, those eyes that she knew she couldn't resist anything to. His eyes, his hair, his lips, his face...Everything she remembered so clearly, everything. Everything she loved and once conquered, just for her. Who knows who other was blessed with having this man by her side?

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Sakura forced herself to smile. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, my house was a real mess. You see, I don't have servants to keep it clean while I'm away."

"And you think having servants is good? It sucks! They don't let you do a thing! I'm cursed to stay in this bed until Tsunade says I _can _walk again...Tell me she sent you to confirm it, please!" he said, arms stretched and folded behind his head, his eyes looking straight into hers.

"Um...Actually I just stopped to see you _on my way there._ She said she wanted to talk to me...Sorry to dissapoint you"

"Hm...There's still something you can do to make up for it" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Glad to help if I can"

"You just tell me if we lost or won that battle four days ago"

The one thing she never expected to hear, yet she did.

"Lost..." she whispered.

"DAMN! Once I'm gone, they're crumbled and they fall! Can't they do anything by themselves? Do I have to do it all first?" Sasuke said, hitting his fist on the bed.

"...And won almost every battle since then"

"Hm. Really? Impressive"

"I'm not surprised, Konoha always had a good army. Thanks to you. Well, anyway. Now, I have to go. She will yell at me."

"Yeah, she tends to do so lately...Farewell Sakura. Don't forget to come and drop some news here time at a time, because I doubt Tsunade will let me out in less than a month."

Sakura smiled, but in the inside, all she wanted to do was stay still. "I'll try" she said and turned to open the door.

"And...Sakura..." She heard him him say, but didn't turn to face him. Just stood.

"What?"

"If you'll leave again, then this time let me know please."

She didn't say a word. Quickly she opened the door and got out of his room, the hurried to find her way out of the palace and at least some steps away. She supported herself on a tree and sighed. Why did her past haunt her so much? Hadn't she left it behind? Why was it still burdaining her? She wanted some peace, that's all. Wasn't she worth of it? Or the things she had done were that bad that fate didn't want to give her a second chance yet?

One thign was certain. The scars of her past wouldn't let her enjoy the signs of her future.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

** I am so so so so sorry this is so small, and I know what you're thinking. She wrote THAT much (the previous chapter) in less than two days and now that she had almost four she came up with just that? Sorry. I am finishing my book and I have to make the last changes and corrections...You know how it is. Hm..I am on with the next chapter already, though. I just felt like updating. See ya.**


	8. Lecturing, lecturing! part I

**Hey there again. I really need to get going with this story, I mean...Nah, I can't say much now, I'm a bit depressed**

**Country of Wind - Hidden village(kingdom) of Sand, Kazekage**

**Counrty of Earth - Hidden village(kingdom) of Rock, Tsuchikage**

**Country of Water - Hidden village(kingdom) of Mist, Mizukage**

**Country of Fire - Hidden village(kingdom) of Leaf, Hokage**

**Country of Lightning - Hidden village(kingdom) of Cloud, Raikage**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Even though she had lost all courage she needed to go and face Tsunade after all those years and she didn't want to, still she had to. And so, she went to the closest tree, picked a bottle of water from her medic bag she always carried and drank as much as she could take in. She put it back in the bag and went on her way.

Walking on the stone-made street to the Hokage mansion, she watched the people around her, as and the surroundings. The kingdom hadn't changed a bit, only grown bigger. She passed from the Ninja Academy, and saw little kids outside, the older would be five, playing at the yard. They were walking, running, talking to each other, sitting and laughing. Some were playing hide and seek, some others were chasing each other. Sakura smiled. It felt like yesterday when she, at those same positions tied her first ribbon on her head and then fell in love with Sasuke. Standing there with the other girls, holding tight Ino's hand, her childhood friend, and squeeling happily to Sasuke, waving her other hand to him.

As she was about to go past the Academy, she suddenly saw a little girl sitting on the ground all alone, arms folded, embracing her knees, head burried in this. The girl was cryiong, her black hair faling like a curtain at the sides of her head, her forehead wide. Sakura went close to the girl and kneeled beside her.

"Why are you crying?" Sakura asked the girl softly.

The kid raised her head and looked at Sakura. It had deep green eyes, filled with sparkling tears. "The...the other kids..they don't play...with me..." she said between sobs.

"And why so?" Sakura said as she tenderly touched the girl's shoulder

"Because...because I have...a wide forehead...They say I_'m ugly because I have a wide forehead_..."

Sakura smiled; the little girl was so alike her! Seconds ago she was reminiscing her own "I-have-a-wide-forehead problem"...She looked at the kid beside her and untied her ribbon from her hair.

"Here" she said as she placed it around the girl's black hair and tied it. "You know, when I was at your age, my friends used to tease me for the same reason, and I've always been crying. Until one day, one of the tough girls tought me how to proove that a wide forehead doesn't make a girl ugly, but gives her unique beauty." Sakura continued, and then took the little girl to a small pound a few steps away. "Look yourself in it"

The girl was surprised, but followed Sakura's advice. She looked herself in the pound as if it was a mirror, then her eyes opened wide.

"Am I...?" she asked, surprised. "Is this me?"

"Yes. See? You're so beautiful!" Sakura said smiling.

"Hey lady! You have a wide forehead too! Oh...This...Changed mine" said the girl bringing her hands to the ribbon. "I...I like it. It's so beautiful! But...um...are you sure you want to give me this?" (**A/N:** _This last line was inspired from_ _Blade of the Immortal_ _manga, volume 3_(_Dreamsong_), _only there, it had to do with a hairpin Makie gave to a girl_).

"You can keep it, I have many. Just remember, go buy yourself some and put them on, and I am sure no one will tease you again!"

The girl smiled, whispered thanks and tightened her grasp on Sakura's hand for a bit, then let go and ran to play with the other kids, yelling. "Hey, guys! Look here! Look!"

Sakura smiled as she was standing up, that girl was certainly a new young-Sakura. She then walked on her way, the wind blowing through the locks of her hair. She didn't want to even see Tsunade, but she had to. So she just gathered her courage and strength to stand her lecture, and she went on.

When she finally got in the Hokage mansion, and headed to Tsunade's office, she knew that everyone was looking at her as if she'd just fallen from an alien planet. Perhaps they knew why she had been banned from the village five years ago, but then again, maybe not. She didn't care, though. As long as they stayed silent and didn't bother her, she didn't care. She just walked her way through desks, people and corridors until she reached Tsunade's door and knocked.

"Come in" The reply was short and sharp.

Sakura took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in trying to keep her temper, and looked around. Everything was the same with the las ttime she had walked in this room, the only difference was that Tsunade was older.

"Ah, so it's _you_ this time..." Tsunade said, folding some papers.

"I don't get the irony- "

""Oh, no, no, no _dear _girl..._I_'m not here to explain _myself_. _YOU _are here to explain _YOURSELF_" Tsunade continued. "Why are you back?"

"Huh? What ind of question is this?"

"Simple and clear, what do you think? Why are you back, Haruno Sakura? I can tell you didn't come to _visit_ or _for holidays_, so I'm asking. You're BANNED from Konoha, Sakura. Your place isn't here, you no longer belong to Konoha. You should be at the Mist, and you know that. Why are you here?"

"A couple of weeks ago, the Mist's Mizukage called me and answered me if I still wanted to stay there, because they were going to fight against Konoha. Allies to the Sand. I refused, though. I said that, no matter how much my kingdom and its people hurt me, it was still the place where I was born, the one I was raised in, and lived most of my life in. I would never and in no way fight against it. So then he kindly asked me if I could leave and come back here, and how much time I would need t get ready. I didn;t have anything to keep me there, so here i am. I did listen to him. I love Konoha. I can't do anything against it." Sakura said and pulled away some strands of her hair that were falling in her eyes.

"That's a pretty good excuse, a well-thought one. But you can't stay here, Sakura."

"But why?" The tone in Sakura's voice was betraying desperation. "Why?"

"Because you killed"

"..."

"And you did that while you were well aware of the fact that whoever kills someone from this place or others is exiled. I wasn't harsh on you back then because of the consequences of what happened, because of your age, because of the problem that occured, but you still _killed _someone. You can't stay here. I didn't exile you, I just banned you, but I should have done it."

"No" Sakura's eyes were wide open with fear. "No, you can't! You can't exile me!"

"Oh really? I only need to have a reason to do so, and I have a _very good_ one to do it!"

"But..."

"But? Did you kill a person of Konoha or not?"

"I...I did...but..." Sakura lowered her head. "I did"

"So, there's no reason for you to stay here anymore.."

"..." Sakura smiled bitterly. "So that was it...I don't have ahome...I don't have a pace to stay...I'm exiled...And you'll curve the line on my forehead protector...Rejection..."

Knocks on the door interrupted the flow of her words and their conversation.

"Come in" Tsunade said frustrated

The door opened, and Sakura turned to see, while Tsunade raised her head.

"G..Good morning..." A trembling yet lazy voice greeted them as, at the doorway the lazy genious of Konoha made his most bloody appearance ever. "How're...you..ladies? Glad to...see Sakura back..." He said with difficulty, supporting himself on the doorknob.

"Shikamaru-kun!" _That _honorific wasn't gone yet. Sakura ran to catch him, he obviously couldn't walk alone anymore. She supported him and helped him walk up to Tsunade's desk.

"...General Nara, what's this mess? You're four days late!"

"I...don't remember...anyone specifying...how...many days I should...We had...It took us one day and a half to...reach the Sand...And I left...almost immediately...I only...had two days...for you to say...I'm late?" he said, not without struggle. He was right. They had left five days ago, three das ago they reached Sand, and he left the same night. He travelled for three nights and days to reach home quickly, and now she was yelling?

"Nara Shikamaru, a three-days late return is an absolute black point in someone's career, even for a lazy fellow like you! And besides, what;s this mess?"

"I've...last night...I've been attacked.."

"WHAT?" Tsuande stood up surprised. "Attacked? By...By who? Did you see who it was?"

Before Shikamaru was able to open his mouth, the door crashed opened and two persons bursted in the office, yelling "Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama!"

"Not again, oh, but what's going on today? Soldier Iruka, Shizune what's made you to crash my door to enter this room so violently?"

"Tsunade-sama! The reply to our message we sent to the kingdom of the Hidden Cloud just came! The Raikage agrees! It's positive! They're allies!" Shizune yelled. Her face was happy, but there was a solemn tone in her voice.

"These are good news...Why this tone then? Do they have terms?"

"Oh, no, no they don't...But...Once their messenger was out of Konoha's gatesjust a few metres away, he was attacked...And he died...Our guards ran to help him, but they couldn't save him..."

"The Cloud's messenger too?" Tsunade begun walking up and down behind her desk. "Why people who go in and out of kingdoms, I wonder..."

"Not all kingdoms! Just us and the Sand!" I ruka interrupted.

"What are you talking about, Iruka?"

"Remember the day prince Sasuke was injured? At that battle, almost everyone fell dead! And the few that survived from both sides didn't get away with it, they were badly wounded. So there was no second thought to take in those who were left there, unable to even move to save themselves even for a bit longer. They were left as fallen, blood everyewhere, half-alive but near death from the loss of blood, laying between dead bodies. Only the next day I was sent with a team of other men to gather our warriors, and give them proper burial, or treatment if we found anyone alive. And you knowwhat we found? Absolutely nothing. The battle itself wouldn't cause such an image..." Iruka said, shivering.

"What did you find, Iruka?"

"A bloody mess, your highness. The whole place had suddenly turned into the most great slaughter I've ever seen. Blood everywhere, no one alive. Mass murder. Severed heads on the ground or stuffed with flies and ants, and some of them were put on the trees...Hands, arms, feet, legs, everything cut apart from the bodies, thrown on the ground. Opened chests and bellies, and some of their inner--"

"Enough, I'm gonna throw up!" Tsunade shouted. "I...got the picture, Iruka"

"And there was somebody who walked through all this mess, looking at the heads, then taking a knife and marking them all with our sign"

"What? Was he from here? Did you see how this person was?"

"Unfortunately no. It was dark and foggy that day, and he was incredibly fast. Once we nailed him, he would get lost and appear again in the opposite side"

"Black hair, the height of a general Genin, green eyes. Long sword and a different kind of kunai from those we have, shaped like a leaf." Shikamaru suddenly said.

Everyone turned their eyes on him.

"Repeat the description"

"He had black hair, he was at the height and weight of an average Genin, he ahd green eyes with the flame of a killer in them. He carried a long sword, the blade covered with blood. His kunai was completely different from the usual ones, with the blade reversed, and it had the shape of a leaf. The face was childish but the eyes were those of a killer"

"_Sorrow in the eyes, blue-white skin like the moon. The desire to avenge his father's death consumes."_ Sakura whispered.

It was her turn for everyone to cast their looks upon her.

"A verse?" Shiazune asked (A/N: _Blade of the Immortal_ in the way AGAIN, HAAAI!)

"How would you know? He was exactly like that!" Shikamaru said to Sakura

"You think I don't know how my own son looks like?"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**I bet I surprised you all, ne? I am sorry for the previous chapter's shortness, I hope this one is long enough to make it up. I consider to make this a doujinshi, so when I'll do it, I'll put it on my account on deviantart (state it in my profile page) and let you know. See ya in the next chapter**


	9. Lecturing, lecturing! part II

**Hey there again. I wrote that chapter beginning 05:00am today, and finished it on our way back from the sea... Hope you like.**

**Note: Suna is the Sand's name, for everyone who doesn't know. It's Konohagakure and Sunagakure, so I cut the "gakure" thing, and what's left? Suna.**

**Lecturing, lecturing! part II**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

"Iruka, Shizune if there's nothing else, please return to your positions." Tsunade said, supporting herself on the desk.

"There's just one more thing. Our weapon supplies are almost over, so..."

"I'll take care of it, don't worry. Please leave now."

"We're off!" Iruka said and nodded. Shizune nodded too, then they both left.

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked, the second surprise he got in a few days.

"I'm curious to know too, general Nara...I think I do know, though. Sakura, is he..."

"Itachi's son." Sakura said, looking out of the window. So much sorrow in the eyes; in just a pair of amazone, jaded eyes.

"I thought so...Like father, like son!" Tsunade said, making Sakura raise her eyes and look at her.

"Taito has nothing to do with him! He's different!" she said, emphasizing the last word. "It's not to take the fact for granted! He looks like him, yes, but his soul is different!"

"And how exactly do you know? You were the one to abandon the kid when he was _born_, and now you want to proove you know him?"

"He's my son. I know his heart. I may not know him, and it was my decision to leave him back then, buthis heart he can't hide from me"

"Hey...Just wait a sec ladies...What's going on here? Itachi? Taito? Sakura having a son? Nande, doko, dare?" Shikamaru suddenly broke in the conversation.

"Oh, my, I forgot about him..." Tsunade whispered to herself. "Will you let him know?" she asked, casting a look on Sakura

"Let me know what?" he asked the two women; surprised.

"Of course I will. Besides, I was not the one who WANTED to keep it a secret; you were! After all, he's my only left friend to trust in here, the way you made things for me!" Sakura said

"Um...Is it ok that I don't understand a thing?" Shikamaru asked. "Did we find out who this psycho is or not?"

Of course we did! If your description is right and fits the verse she spoke, she knows, then it's what she says. Her son did and keeps doing the murders and the slaughters."

"Sakura? Her son? Sakura, do you have a child? Since when?"

"One question at a time, Shikamaru. Yes, I have a child, a little son. He must be seven now"

"SEVEN? And he kills people like that at just SEVEN? What am I gonna hear next?!?" Tsunade yelled.

"But...But how come you never said anything to anyone?" Shikamaru continued their lower tone conversation, as if Tsunade wasn't in the room.

"It's not Sasuke's, if that's what you expected to hear..." Sakura said solemnly.

"It's not? Now I'm even more surprised."

"Hm...Remember that night when we were twelve, when ou had that walk with Temari-san and you found me near the river?"

"Clearly. I would never forget the look in your eyes that night. I still wonder what was it that hurt you so much."

"Itachi" Sakura's lips moved, but no sound came out. "Itachi raped me" she said. An unbearable silence fell in the room, upon the two, Shikamaru couldn't believe what he heard. Tsunade clenched her fists and Sakura lowered her head and gritted her teeth, fighting back the awful memories and the tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes. She had already made the start, she couldn't hold back now. "Itachi is Taito's father...That's why I nver said anything to anyone, that's why four years later I killed Itachi, that's why Tsunade wants to exile me, that's what goes for everything!!" she said with sobs, not able to keep the tears from falling anymore.

"Enough, Haruno Sakura. Enough!" Tsunade shouted.

"I get it now. But there's still something that troubles me. Why does the kid attack people who get in and out of Konoha and Suna?" Shikamaru asked her, brows furrowed.

"He doesn't know...He doesn't know how old he is...Neither that I am his mother, nor his age...Because...I was not...the only one who..Itachi raped..."

"That was a blind spot even to me...Who could have imagined that there would be even more to this twisted affair..." Tsunade said.

"Who was the other one?" Shikamaru asked, shivering and shaking that much, that if Sakura wasn't holding him, he'd have ended up on the floor long ago.

"Temari-san"

Tsunade saw both their faces change instantly. Sakura's turned from irritation to sorrow, because her memories were too painful to bear and keep inside for more AND keep a cool face. Shikamaru's turned from curiosity to agony, then the look on his face gave out his realisation.

"That bastard...Taito looks up to him like that? Sakura, you have to tell the truth to your son, you have to take him in and explain!"

"Take him where and explain what? She wants to exile me, because I killed Itachi..." Sakura said, head pointing Tsunade.

"You...Tsunade-sama, you can't do this! She killed, yes, but...the one she killed was...one of the exiled! You...don't need to do this! And...there's a paragraph in the law for murders...which says that...if someone...kills another one on a moment of anger, fear or great emotional mass, or in defense, the that person is innocent! Which goes for this situation...Besides...the law of exiling the ones who killed counts...only...for those who...killed...people who are...citizents of Konoha...Sakura killed an exiled one, one who was citizent of Konoha no more. Which means she did nothing bad or illegal, and she's innocent." Shikamaru said, choking no more in the last words.

"Did you ever wanted to be a defender of the innocent, a lawyer, Nara Shikamaru? Cause if you did, you 're very good at it." Tsunade said.

"Never had such intention. You're wrong here, Godaime, and you know I know it. I just can't understand why you don't want Sakura in the kingdom."

That was the point, indeed. It was not that Sakura was a criminal that could no longer stay in Konoha, but the fact that Tsunade didn't want her to stay for some reason. She felt like Sakura was a danger and a threat, and she just wanted to keep the prince safe as she was ordered.

"And I KNEW, something was TELLING ME that there's something missing here!" Sakura said. "Why don't you want me to stay huh?"

"If you want to hear it so desperately, fine. But don't say I didn't warn you! You already killed one of the Uchiha clan's princes. Who guarantees you won't do it again?"

"Is THAT why you wanted to keep me away? Because you were afraid of me killing your precious Uchiha offspring?...I...I can't believe it!"

"Well, either you do or not, you already killed one of them, history can repeat itself, can't it?"

"Itachi raped me! And...just to part me from Sasuke. And Sasuke...he never even laid a finger on me! He never insulted o hurt me, or did anything to harm me! Why would I want to even slap Sasuke?" Sakura said with eyes filled with tears, but the look on her face; determination. She had already made her decision. She would stay in Konoha no matter what.

"She's got a point here, Tsunade-sama. It's ok to kill the one who raped you just for some twisted ambition of his, just to satisfy his twisted needs, but there's no reason for you to kill the one who loves you with all his heart" Shikamaru said. Sakura smiled and nodded to him, thanking him silently.

"Hm...Are you two sure you;re not in love?" Tsunade said looking at them. (A/N: If this was an anime, I would put foxy ears on Tsunade! I may do it in the doujin...)

"I already said that I love Sasuke!" Sakura said angrily

"And I'm engaged to Ino...Not happening, sorry to ruin your fantasies, Godaime!"

"Aaargh, you two! Conversation over! Sakura, you can stay to the kingdom, but with one term. Away from the prince! Now, take Shikamaru to the medical centre and take care of his wounds"

"I don't think treatment anymore...My wounds aren't that bad and they stopped bleeding by the time Sakura dropped that "Taito is my son" bomb. All I need is a nice bath and a good nap" Shikamaru interrupted.

"Duh...Ok, ok, do whatever you want! Just leave!" Tsunade shouted and, after nodding to her, Shikamaru and Sakura walked out with ironic smiles on their lips.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Note that IT'S NOT SHIKASAKU in any way. I am a SasuSaku ALL THE WAY fan, so, sorry to ShikaSaku fans, not happening. And don't tell me to go watch epi. 216, because even then, Naruto was getting the wrong conclusion. Sorry if I spoiled anything. **

**So, this took me little to write, but many days to type. I have already written the next threee chapters, so don't worry. I'll try to be quick with my updates!**


	10. Reunion

**Hey there again. I wrote that chapter beginning 05:00am today. No, wait, it was 04:45 am. I'm sorry if I'm freaking you out guys, but it's so hot that I can barely sleep for one hour the longest.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

In a ten-minute distance from the Hokage mansion, an other meeting was about to begin, taking place secreatly in the woods.

A team of eleven people was there, waiting. And the object of their time waiting arrived at last.

A person with the head covered with a hood, shoulders covered with the cloak, dressed in dark purple and green, riding a black horse with white hair and tail just arrived. The person was followed by ten men, all of them carrying huge boxes on their shoulders. Some of them were talking, complaining to each other about the fact that their leader was riding a horse and they were walking. And their long purple clothes didn't make it any easy either.

The mysterious person must have heard some of their voices, because s mile, an ironic smile made its way to the pale lips.

"Keep moving, slackers!"

The voice obviously belonged to a girl, there was no doubt about it anymore. The leader of the other team smiled as her men arrived, he knew it would be her after all.

Not even a minute later the team dressed in purple reached the pre-arranged meeting spot. The men put down the boxes, some of them even throwing them to get them off of their shoulders.

"Carefully! Those people paid for these stuff! They deserve the best I can give them!" their leader shouted as she was getting off of her horse. She jumped and gracefully landed at the hard ground, controling her balance perfectly. She stood on her feet and raised ehr head to look at the other teams, their leader coming to greet her on a steady pace. She put her hands on her waist and waited.

"My lady mistress..." he said when he approached her.

"My lord general..." she replied. They shook hands and then he kneeled in front of her, bringing her hand to his mouth, he kissed the top of it in a gesture of kindness and acception. She smiled once again.

"How was your trip, lady mistress?" He asked and stood, arms crossed on his chest.

"Quite easy and fast, after all those years...I whacked a few of those pathetic guys who attack the travellers, though. Pieve of a cake" she saod and shoot her head back, the hood falling, revealing the face and her hair.

"I would expect nothing less from you, Tenten" said the general as the waterfall of her silk brown hair, tied in a long ponytail that reached her waist fell down. He looked at her, the face, the body; the person he hadn't seen for three years.

"I've gone far better than the last time, general Hyuuga..." she said and came closer to him. She looked deep into his silver eyes, eyes she'd been thinking and dreaming of for the last three years. "...you should already know that, Neji" she whispered in his ear and stepped back.

"I do" They looked at each other for a bit, then he turned to the tem men behind him. "Well, gentlemen, what do you stand there for? Go ahead, lead our guests to our hideout, help them carry the things we needed and make sure they're paid for the sweat they lost to bring them here. We'll catch up with you as soon as we finish the conversation" Neji said and shook his head to the kingdom's direction, to show them they could go. His ten men nodded, then all the twenty of them lifted the boxes and went on their way. "And make sure no one sees you!"

"Yes sir!"

After they left, Neji turned to face Tenten once again. "I missed you"

They embraced and Tenten burried her head in his chest, taking a deep breath in. "I missed you too, Neji..." She raised her head and looked at him in the eyes. Neji didn't change the direction of his look, he kept staring in her chocolate eyes.

"You've grown different from the last time I saw you"

"Heh...Stronger in my work, more harsh on those slackers and more energetic in battles..."

"And even though I didn't think you could, even more beautiful" Neji replied with mastery, then lowered his head and covered her lips with his. The kiss was exactly what they've been waiting for from the moment Tenten appeared. And it was exactly what they needed.

Tenten didn't hold back, and she didn't want to either. She shivered and tightened the embrace, feeling his hands holding her face close to him and then her fingers run in his black hair.

"Those three years away from you made me sick, every moment was painful..."Neji said when they let go. Tenten nodded, she could understand exactly what he felt, besides, it was the same with what she felt too.

"Well, I'm here now. We've got a day and we'd better not waste it."

"Then why don't we go meet those slugs we have for followers, to "talk about buisiness", hm?" he asked

"Not a bad idea...Then we'll have the rest of the day for us" she agreed, and so, once she carefully bound the bridles of her horse on a branch, she untied the lace that kept her cloak on and dropped it on the saddle. "Will he be ok? I mean, you don't have any wolves or bears around, right?"

"No, not in this area. It's at the other side of the forest they inhabit."

"Well then, let's go."

They walked to Neji's hideout and got in. They saw that their men had already brought the boxes in and Neji didnt even need to inspect them. He knew the weapons Tenten brought in were of the finest quality and besides, all those blades were product of her own hard-working and sweating hours. Her mark, the twin dragons, was curved on every single blade.

"Excellent work. You're definitely not called a Weapon Mistress for nothing."

"Thank you"

For the rest of the morning, they couldn't talk about anything else. With the help of their comrades, they arranged the payment, after Tenten mentioned how much she needed to byu all those things she needed to keep making those weapons. They agreed on the final sum, and then Neji's men suggested that the other guys should visit Konha, since they wouldn't leave immediatelly. It was almost midday, and time for lunch anyway.

"Well, I guess we can go out all together and have lunch...Then you can take them to he most importand spots of the kingdom, right?" Neji asked hs men. Everyone agreed, and they walked out careful not to be seen until they were in the kingdom's streets.

"He's born to be a leader..." Tenten thuoght to herself as she followed.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**AND THIS IS FINALLY NEJITEN! The story that I begun to be NejiTen, and it was EVERYTHING but NejiTen so far, it's finally NejiTen now. Hope you enjoyed.**

**I'm very happy that I managed to update TWO chapters in a day. Though this one is small...**

**Well, tomorrow I'll be on with the other two next chapters...Or at least I'll try...NO! WAIT! Tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday, screw the fic. See ya again in two days!**


	11. Saying goodbye

**Hey, once again. I didn't see many reviews yesterday, why so? Naw, I won't complain, I knew that chapter sucked, besides my sister told me it was kinda boring. Well, I hope THIS one, will be more energetic. And for your information, what follows was written in 4 in the morning, so take it easy on me**

**And yes, I'm kinda irritated, because my boy's boss is SO EVIL that today he put him work ALL DAY. And he has his birthday, dammit! Not even today? Ah...Dedicated to him anyway, even though he doesn't have a pc to read it and he reads the prototype...**

**I've been thinking of him when I worte it...**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

It was fun. Spendning the day with their comrades, with those simple soldiers, the way they talked to each other, their jokes that left no one without laughter.

In the end, they didn't want to part. But after the pleads of their men, Neji and Tenten gave in and let them go.

"I want you all back here at dawn...And be nice boys!" she shouted as they were leaving. It was almost time for the sun to set.

"They're really good men...Great guys to have for company." Neji pointed.

"Yeah, they're really worth it what we do for them." Tenten agreed

"So, lady Mistress..Do you want to watch the sunset with me?"

"Hm...Why not, lord general? Let's go"

Neji took her to a secret place in the forest, to a clearing with a lake right in the middle of it. They sat at the sore and watched the sunset embraced. Neji sat with his back facing a tree, having Tenten in his arms. They didn't want to take their eyes off of the scenery, the alternation of the colors around them enslaved them and captured their sight. Gold on the top of every tree, a rose's color on the line of the horizon and the surface of the lake, then slowly turning into red, deep red, like blood. The few clouds that travelled on the sky were gold, until the sun hid behind the rosy line of the mountains on the other side of the forest, and everything around Neji and Tenten went deep purple.

Stars begun to make their small appearances in the sky, who had finally started to take that magnificent color, that between black and dark blue, so deep, that touched the soul. In a few moments, the moon rose, its pale beauty adorning the sky. Its blue-white light falling upon the two, making the lake shine silver, mirrorizing its image in the surface.

"It's wonderful..." Tenten managed to let out after some silent moments.

"It has been like that ...From the day you left, I've been coming here and sitting, watching either the clouds or the clear sky, watching the same thing taking place every single night...Dreaming of showing you one day."

"And, I've always been grateful to you for saving me...For helping me get away...That life I was forced to live was awful...You helped me get rid of it, you made my dream come true...And I never even thanked you for that" Tenten said; still, none of the two moving, in fear of unbinding the embrace. She could feel his heart beating under her skin, and it calmed her. It calmed her when she listened to his heartbeat and knew that it was her for who his heart was beating.

"You know that you've already thanked me. I've seen the fire in your eyes once more, I've seen you laugh once again. Your smile is the best thing you could give me" Neji said and kissed her at the top of her head. "Besides, there's nothing in this world worth more than you."

"No. There is." Tenten replied and raised her head to look at him. "To me the most precious thing is you..Your love that you gave me even though you knew what I was...I...what I've been was... ...That's what gave me courage to go through it, waiting only for you every day, and when you finally paid my way out of that stinking place, you saved me. That's the best thing that someone ever did for me"

"And you're worth even more than that." Neji whispered and, before she was able to say a word, he sealed her lips with a kiss. Surprised her, but she wouldn't hold back. She was dreaming of this moment for three years, and she wanted to live it to the end.

They both knew what would follow the moment their lips parted so that they would take a breath, then united again. Longing for it for so much time, now that it was finally happening, now that they were finally together, no one of them wanted to let go. They wouldn't have another chance to see each other, the next time they would possibly meet was eight months later, when Konoha's weapon supplies would be over again. They didn't want to waste a single moment, but the did not rush. The night was long enough for them.

"Am I really worth everything you do for me?"

"Much more than what I've already done. You're the one I cherish most, you're the one who saved me from my inner demons."

"Then..." Tenten looked at him and took away some strands that fell in his eyes.

"Well, just stop thinking about it. We're both of much value to each other, and if we keep on talking about it, it'll get us nowhere." Neji said, stroking her face, then his fingers run in her hair. "I kinda missed those buns you had on...But you look even more beautiful with this"

"..am I so beautiful with the ponytail..." Tenten whispered and, bringing her hands to her hair, she untied the ribbon that kept them tied and they fell down free, adorning her pale face. "...like I am with hair down? You've always said that's the best way to have them."

"And I'll say it again, many times." he answered, his fingers ran through the loose now hair, as Tenten took his face in her hands to bring him closer to hers. She was the one to kiss him this time. They lied back, her hands on his face, in his hair, his fingers running down her spine. Tenten untied the lace that kept her cloak on and it fell back under them, as if it was a bedsheet. Then her fingers run the way to his shirt, in a few moments she had removed it.

Haven't seen him for three years, and adding the fact that he was the prince of the Hyuuga clan, even from the side branch, either he _did _have a well-built body, or she was just drooling over him. He seemed perfect to her eyes. Who knew how many hours of training, how many battles brought him to this? "I missed you Neji.." she whispered as she felt her shirt falling from her shoulders to the ground.

He wouldn't let her drool, though. He let out a small huff, then their lips met again, keeping the one bound to the other. "I've been missing you every day, suffering, knowing that I still have so much time until I see you again, and that was killing me...I missed you badly, Tenten.."

"Then talk no more. We have so little time, let us just live every moment- together." she whispered on his lips. He noded and kissed her forehead, both faces and bodies pale under the moonlight. Bathed under the silver rows the moon sent upon them, skin blue-white under the cold light, each of them so small alone, but together feeling able to go through everything. All that mattered was to be together.

They spent the rest of the night like that, bound in an embrace that kept them together, one. And when in the end they lied in each other's arms, they watched the stars for one more time, until sleep took over them. Just like that they fell, like they always wanted to be and never were able to make their dream come true. Each of them had helped the other to achieve their personal dreams, but they still couldn't get to their common dream. To be together, and never part again.

But if they were able to make it true even for some moments, they would live it with all their will. And so they slept, keeping each other close, holding on tight, losing themselves in a dream that they could make true only at times like this one.

The dawn was cold in Konoha, and even more out at the forest. That's how they greeted the new day. They had woken up from the chills, but had only entightened the embrace, and then wrapped themselves in Tenten's wide cloak.

"Can't we be like that...Can we stay like that forever?" Tenten whispered.

"Unfortunately no. But you know that's only for the moment..." Neji replied, fondling her hair.

"Will we still love each other that much to be able to go through hell again, this time to achieve a dream greater than the others?"

"What do you think? Can I stay in love forever?" (**A/N:** _Breaking Benjamin_-_Saturate_. **Ahaaa. I'm so totally in love with this song**.)

"...I would, with you, I'd stay in love forever."

"Then same goes for me" Neji said and kissed her.

Those were the last moments they spent together and they knew it. They wanted to be like that for a little longer, though. It was easy for none of the two to let go first, and when they finally did, they did it together.

When the horizon went pink-ish, with a golden line at the mountains' shadows, Neji held Tenten's hand and helped her get on her horse. Their men had once again gathered, hers to follow her back home, his to say goodbye.

"It was nice to have you back even for so little..." he whispered to her.

"It's been great, really..But good things in life never last for long..." Tenten nodded.

"And now we've got to say goodbye.." Neji said and stroked the horse behind the ears.

"Right..." she whispered and looked at him with eyes opened wide. "...My lord general?"

"Yes, my lady mistress?"

Tenten inclined from the horse's back to him and whispered in his ear. "When will I see you again, Neji?"

"None can know, Tenten. I'll make sure that we need your precious help soon enough, though. So don't worry." he said and Tenten smiled.

"Just to see me again soon?"

"Just to see you again soon." Neji confirmed the promise placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Farewell, my lady"

"See you around, my lord." Tenten replied and jolted the bridles of her horse sligtly, just to make it move forward.

All of their men waved their hands goodbye for long time, until Tenten and her team disappeared in the forest. After that, Neji's comrades went back in Konoha, to their original positions.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**I know, I know, I know I warned nobody (ok, I warned Aky) that this would go like this...I can't believe it myself that I actually WROTE that...Lime...Me?...Duh, I don't know. Really. Maybe it's just because I miss him so badly, maybe because I haven't seen him for almost two months, maybe because I haven't heard him for over two weeks...I don't know.**

**Hope you liked it anyway.**

**As for the word "whisper"and its derivatives, I know I used it a lot in this chapter, and that's because I was listening to "Whispers in the Dark" repeatedly...And I'm sorry it's that small and rushed, I just felt like updating.**

**See ya in the next chapters, pals.**


	12. Taken down

**Don't get me down like that guys...Three new chapters and almost NO reviews? Just one? What is this story turning into? Neeh, I'm really depressed now. If I see no reviews for this chapter too, I will delete this. Truly, this time, I am WAY upset, and if I don't get my hopes up, I will indeed delete it and stop writting it.**

**And that means that there won't be a doujin**

**Please tell me, did the previous chapters suck so badly? I knew I shouldn't have written that lime-thing, so, ok. Call me a fool, I really don't care anymore. If I don't see it going, say goodbye to it. **

**THank you, jenny-R for your support, though. If it wasn't you...**


	13. Night in a Hyuuga's mind

**A big big sorry for my previous words to everyone and a huge thanks to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it guys. **

**I was mad at my dad because he teased those who reviewed, because he considers anime and all those things I write fics for crap. Just because I said "just one review per chapter? What did I do to ruin the story?" and he heard me, he said awful things about me writting fanfiction and that I waste my time on bullshit, and that he was TELLING me I would get the low grades I got to school if I kept on writting fics. I was so upset, that I even thought of deleting the fic. Sorry, sorry, sorry guys.**

**My greatest thanks go to those people who supported me most:**

**jenny-R**

**joe-ashaman**

**Quiet Moon**

**Titania400**

**as well as to those who only reviewed lately and just once, but they got my hopes up**

**Matahari **

**Toad321**

**everyday-snowangel**

**xroyal.momonessx**

**I hope I can make it up to you with this chapter, even though it's small. It's Neji centric. **

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Neji didn't move from where he was, though. He wanted to stay where he was and keep the memory alive, the dream half-achieved just for a little bit longer. And when it was finally clear morning, and everything was left in the magic of the previous night, he turned and faced Konha as he walked his way to the gate. He loved her so much and so strongly that he'd do anything to keep her close and make their dream come true.

That day, even though never before has he felt like that, all he could name as a feeling was emptyness. He felt incomplete. And...abandoned. He did feel almost the same with when his father left. The same when Hinata left. He was only grateful that Tenten would come back, sooner or later. But still, he couldn't find peace away from her.

Later that night, when he finally was able to return home from his job, he didn't go straigtly to his room. He went to the wide window of the Hyuuga mansion's living room and looked out. The kingdom was silently sleeping under the moonlight. Everything on it was so clear, that he couldn't take his eyes off of the starlit sky. After all, the two mostly shining stars, right there under the moon, reminded him of Tenten's eyes. He sighed as he looked at them, the feeling of her arms around him still alive.

"Neji-nii-san?"

He instantly turned at the sound of the voice, hand ready to draw his sheathed sword he had tied on his waist.

"Neji-nii-san, haven't you fall asleep yet?"

The voice belonged to his little cousin, he had nothing to fear. He took his hand from the sword and smiled; the way Hyuuga Hanabi leaned over the handrail made her really look like a princess. Apart from the fact that indeed she WAS a princess. And i her silk white nightgown, she looked like a fairy.

"Not yet, Hanabi. I just came back, but I'm beat. Where's uncle?"

"He already fell asleep hours ago...He goes to sleep even more early the last week."

"Is he? Well, at least he doesn't get much in things around here."

"If he could, he would, be sure about that."

"Naw. The old man is so irritating that he'll find a way to butt in even if he's like that...Now, Hanabi, sorry to break our conversation, but I'm really tired...I need some sleep cause tomorrow I'll have to report to Tsunade..." Neji said and rubbed his eyes; they were already about to close.

"It's ok, Neji-nii-san. I'll go and try to have some sleep too, even though I don't think I will...Goodnight Neji!" Hanabi said and lifted herself on the tips of her toes to reach him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning!" she said as happily disappearing in the darkness of her room.

"Sweet dreams, little Hyuuga angel." Neji whispered as he too went upstairs, then walked to his room. He opened his door and stepped in, and when he closed it, he stood, head touching it, supporting himself on it. The room was really a emss since he let no one get in. He had thrown on the floor almost everything, from clothes and shoes to papers and kunai. He did not mind the mess, though, as long as he could find his way in his room even in the darkness. He kicked his boots off of his feet and sent them go face the opposite wall. He took off his shirt and threw it on a chair, then he let himself fall on his bed just as he was; sleep already taking him over. He didn't even bother to pull the blanket on, he was left as fallen.

The moonlight that fell from the open window found its way through the slightly parted curtains and fell upon him, sending silver rays to enlighten the lines of the young man's body. The moon didn't send its light on his eyes, so to not wake him, but it sent it go walk on his face, enlightening him, staying a bit on his lips, then going all the way down to his collarbone. It couldn't go further, though, because the shadows of the curtains fel right on its way.

He seemed so calm, right in sleep, but besides his content state, his mind was so troubled that he had nightmares for once again.

And that night, the Hyuuga prince was to face one of his worst.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**I just saw the three new revies from Matahari, and decided that I should try to upoad another chapter. Sorry it is so small. And it's Neji centric too.**

**Well, my Neji-fangirlness gave life those lines where the moonlight dances on his body (how poetic, oh yeah right...)...After watching that episode where he was...Oh well. Bare-chested. I just couldn't help it.**

**Hell, I don't know what to do right now. I have a problem with my internet connection, and I might be inactive for some time. I'll try to ask my uncle let me use his computer, since he lives in the appartment which is right above ours...I hope that he'll let me, besides I WROTE that poem he wanted me to! **

**Well, I am in a good mood again, eh? Guess. I have the next chapter on work. And it's finally the NaruHina everyone (who am I kidding?) awaited...Heehehehehe..Well, I might give you all a surprise with Hinata...Jared, Akylina, you two already know what I'm blabbing about, neeee?**

**See ya all!**


	14. In Neji's room and mind

**Rather short for a chapter of mine...I tend to do this lately, and I have to admit that I like it not...But I didnt know what else to do. Neji centric again, I wanted to post this chappie today, because it's Neji's birthday! So, Neji-san, tanoshii tanyoubi wo omedetto gozaimasu! **

**Happy birthday to my gorgeous Hyuuga prodigy!**

**Note: for everyone who doesn't know, Hiashi is Hinata's father, so Neji's uncle. And Hizashi is Neji's father.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**But I'd like to own Neji or Sasuke...or maybe Shikamaru...Nah. They beong to TenTen, Sakura and Temari.**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

He had a bad feeling feeling from the moment Tenten left. It was like he wasn't the only one who was sad about her leaving. He had noticed the small white but heavy clouds that were gathering on the sky, but he just didn't pay much attention. He only wanted to go home and fall fast asleep.

After his conversation with Hanabi, he went to his bed. Indeed, he slept for...what was it? Ten minutes at most? And even that sleep, he'd prefer not to have it. Because he woke up all sweaty, screaming, calling for him. "Father!!!"

Now he layed completely awake on his bed, looking back at the moon from the small opening of his curtains. Millions of thoughts were twirling in and around each other inside his head, just like the moonlight rays were dancing on his bare chest. Those thoughts were tiring his brain. A bunch of threads with no beginning and no end, that's how Neji felt towards them. He wondered about so many things, too many questions he wanted to ask, was sure he had no one to answer them.

Why did Hizashi decide to sacrifice himself for Hiashi? Since his uncle was so cruel, Neji didn't even want to think of the fat that Hiashi could have been of some value at that time, uncaring of the fact that his father might have done what he did because her loved his brother and didn't want the head family to be left without a leader. That attitude that run in the whole clan, for the side branch to obey the main one and do whatever the Head of the clan said, Neji never understood. And if there was anyone to stray from that path, then it was granted that they would be banned from the clan. Just like that. Just like Hinata.

Would things be better if his father was alive? Neji still missed Hizashi more than the others thought. He didn't say so to anyone, though. How stupid, they would say. The 19year old general, the prince of the side branch, the Hyuuga prodigy missing his father, dead for over twelve years? How foolish of him! How childish of him! What a disgrace that is to be! Or so they would say. To Neji it was different. Only Hinata understood this weakness of his. But even Hinata went away. She left too.

He missed both his father and Hinata. He so much wanted to know if his cousin still was alive, and if yes, if she was alright. And he missed his father, his words to him, his gentle words of pride and protection towards the descendants of the main branch. Neji knew that if his father was alive, it would be easier for Hiashi to have him under his orders, since his father would again tell him to always obey and protect the offsprings of the main branch, if he didn't want to be banned from the clan. But the clan was the last thing Neji cared about. He missed Hinata, he missed his father, he missed Tenten badly, he was all alone. And the last thing that would come to his mind at such an hour was the clan and it's stupid rules.

He never thought that this could happen, but he missed his Hizashi and Hinata less than Tenten.

Tenten...Oh how much he missed this girl. His eyes were covered with her image, and once he thought of her smile...All the troubles he would have to face next day seemed to vanish.

How was Tenten? What did she do all these years, was she happy with her new life? Did she still love him as much as before? Those last questions were the ones he was mostly tortured by, not only tonight, but every day and night since she left. Back then when they were just sixteen. Back when he freed her from what she was forced into, back when they could still see each other every day. Oh, how much he missed those days. Oh how much he wanted to turn back time, to have her by his side again, to be able to see her.

Just a few of his thoughts and yet they were driving him crazy. His head was now so filled with all these thoughts that it gave him a headache, not to mention the endless dizziness. Neji brought his hands to his head and closed his eyes, tightly holding his head as if he was afraid it would break.

He certainly didnt deserve such pain, but he WAS through it, no matter what he deserved and what not.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**That's it. The Neji-centric chappie that I wanted to post on his birthday! Happy birthday Neji-san, once again! Hope you all enjoy despite the shortness of it!**

**Seeeeee yaaaa!**


	15. Sharingan VS Byakugan:Royal Fight

**7/6/2007 As far as now that I'm starting to write this, I don't know how big this is gonna be. I only know that I have to make comments on some of my reviews.**

**to Titania400: Hey, don't be impatient! I promised that I would write a NaruHina chappie too! Everything in its time. Patience my dear. The next chapter IS gonna be what you long for, I promise (it's already written down by my magnificent[nah pen!)**

**to Joe-Ashaman: Sorry for delaying for another chapter Hinata's appearance, but I really thought I had to update this fic WITHIN July, and not leave it for August, because then, until the 10th I'd have the preparations for my birthday, and I wouldn't even think of continuing a fanfic. I think I could make it up for you with this fighting scene in the ending.**

**to everyone else: 1)Thanks for supporting me! 2)Especially now that I have a problem with my wrist, and I type and write really slow, I think it's gonna be the extra-slow updating I've done for this fic**

**So, just because I mentioned it, if you see many typos and such in this, then blame it all on the misplaced bones on my right wrist. It really sucks and most, it hurts.**

**7/24/2007 Now...I'm finally writting this after SO much time...I apoligise for my abscence, but I had to get over and out with that WRIST prob, and I thought it'd be better if I backed off a bit. Now that everything's fine with my hand again, I will type and type and type to update this TODAY!**

**I do not own Naruto**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Such was the pain on his head as it seems, that he never noticed the strange flickering of flames on his body, dancing on the line the moonlight had drawn on his chest. Neither the weird sounds that came from the side of the sea, nor the smell of burned wood flowing in the air.

But even if he wanted to, he couldn't ignore the bumping on his door, the rushed knocks and the terrified voice that called for him. "Neji-nii-san! Neji-nii-san! Wake up! Wake up please!"

He got out of his bed with ease, and in less than a second he was opening the door.

"What the...?...Hanabi? What are you doing here that late?"

"Neji...Neji we're under attack!" Hanabi said, eyes glowing in the darkness with fear.

"What? When did those Sand bastards get so close?"

"It's not fro, the ground...It's from the sea..." Hanabi whispered.

"What?" Neji turned and ran to his window, parting the curtains so viciously that almost tore them, and looked out. His room was positioned exactly where he needed it, his window offereing him him a clear view of almost the whole kingdom, and also the sea.

Then he saw it.

Big and dark, a shadow in the shadows, exhaling fear and death. Her sails tightly bound on their ropes, preventing the wind form taking them away. The stays shining silver like spiderwebs under the moonlight. She was dancing gracefully on the huge waves, always staying in the same spot, though. And even though the rough sea was harshly attacking the waterlines of the ship, making it seem like it was nothing more than a cockleshell, the captain should be really skilled to keep it steady in such a mess.

Neji's eyes narrowed and he looked at the pannier, he could see a shadow standing there, next to the main mast. A shadow that only seemed to care about one thing. The crew to satisfy their greeding desire for blood.

"No way..." whispered the Hyuuga prince.

And then a lightning tore through the sky and lit up everything. For a second, the ship was all light up clearly, that Neji didn't even need to try activating his Byakuugan to see the name of it. _Yoru No Koe_

"Hanabi..." he breathed out suddenly. "Hanabi, come here for a moment!" He HAD to be mistaken, or else...

"What is it?"

"Look at that ship over there...Do you see its name? If yes, tell me what you see, alright?"

"Ok. Um..It's hard but..." That moment, another lightning came out of nowhere and bathed everything in a silver light, making it seem as if it was day again. "Oh! I saw it! Yoru No Koe, Voice of the night!" Hanabi said, narrowing her eyes so as to help them get a sharper view. "Nee...Neji-nii-san?"

"..." Neji had tightened his grasp on the window frame and Hanabi's shoulder. "That's it...right?"

"I was about to say...Isn't that the ship that took Hinata?"

"Yes...Oh my, why can't I be mistaken JUST FOR ONCE?!" Look there! Look at him, there he is! He's still alive, that bastard! Neji sid angrily as a thunderstruck was heard.

"The one who took Hinata...Is he still alive?"

"As it seems!"

"B..But he was almost 100 the last time!"

"Well, I guess three years didn't much change his age..." Neji took his off of the window and Hanabi's shoulder and turned on his heels, walking in the room, seeking his shirt.

"Neji-nii-san?" Hanabi whispered as he put on his shirt, then took his boots from where he had thrown them and wore them. He looked up to her, locking his eyes with hers; she was frightened now.

"What's wrong, Hanabi?"

"Is there...Any...possibility that...he will take me too?" Hanabi whispered.

"No way. Simply no way. I won't let that happen. One, you're too young for his tastes. Two, if you stay in here and as long as those bastards stay in their cockleshell, you have nothing to fear. Besides, the whole clan is ready to sell themselves to hell itself to keep you safe. Three, even if they got out on the ground, I will let no one even touch you. I made that mistake once, I'm not gonna do it again."

"Thanks Neji..." Hanabi mouthed and hugged him, her head barely reaching his collarbone. She was too short to be able to hug him from the neck, she would be hanging.

"I've already lost Hinata, I won't lose you too! I promise" Neji said and kissed her forehead. Then his brows furrowed. "Now listen to me. Go wake your father, explain the situation to him, and then gather the clan. Talk to the elders, inform them and send our men, they know where to find me. I'm going to report to Tsunade. Though I don't think there's someone who didn't take notice of that..."

"Alright Neji..Be careful, ne?"

"I will"

Those were the last words the Hyuuga prodigy would exchange with his cousin for quite long time. Neji kissed Hanabi on the top of her head and walked out of his room, then downstairs with big, steady steps. His feet led him out of the Hyuuga compound quickly, and then he started running fast into the night. He could hear, see and feel it clearly now; the voices of the terrified citizents who lived close to the sea, the fire blazing, the smell of the burned woods -and not only. The smell was way too awful to be _just_ wood. It smelled like _human flesh_. **(A/N:** Watch _Rurouni Kenshin_, episodes 56-61, where Shisio has his last battle with Kenshin. The guy is all burned from his past already, and so is his sword. He has _HUMAN OILS_ in the edges of the blade, so to light fire when he rubs it against his gloves-gun powder in them. That's where I got the idea from

"Damn pirates..." Neji whispered as he ran with all his might now, his hands tied to fists, his lips tightly shut forming a thin line. He ran to the Hokage mansion as fast as he could. He knew that their Head wouldn't be sleeping, she barely did the last few weeks.

He reached the gate of the mansion and stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then walked with rushed footsteps to Tsunade's office.

The moment he knocked the door his mind was telling him to call her name, but Neji didn't. He thought it was useless, besides, he wasn't going to do what he despised. When the answer from the inside came, he opened the door and entered calmly.

"Tsunade'sama, I--" he started, but he was cut off.

"Finally, geneal Hyuuga! What took you that long?" Tsunade was standing behind her desk, her eyes red, her hair a bit messy. Shizune was standing somewhere near, her arms filled with a huge pack of papers. Three other people surrounded the Hokage's desk, and with one glare, Neji could easily recognize all of them. They've also turned to see him.

"Just about time, Hyuuga." spoke the Uchiha prodigy.

"Forgive me my prince." Neji bent to one knee. "I needed to inform the elders of my clan."

"Agh! Oi Neji, get up man! What do you think you need the formalities for at such an hour?" A voice that could be judged annoying came from a tall, blond boy with big blue eyes, piercing through everyone's ears.

"Naruto! Neji and Sasuke are the only ones to show respect even at a time like this!" Nara Shikamaru contradicted the fox boy.

"Apart from all those useless and childish actions, and I mean NOT Hyuuga..." the Uchiha boy spoke as he turned to fully face the other young men, "...we're called here for a reason. We have our orders. 'Fight' they said. Ok so far. Give us blades and we fight." Sasuke ended his sentence turning to Tsunade now.

"That's why I was waiting for you, general Hyuuga. Did you refresh our supplies?"

"Just an afternoon ago. I've got not much, but they're to keep us going for eight months the longest. I'll already have our backup ready until then."

"And of what quality?"

"Does it really matter?"

"General"

"Duh, fine...Just look at this" Neji took a kunai from the side of his boot and threw it on the table in front of Tsunade. "One hundred sixty thousand(160,000), (80,000)eighty kunai, (80,000)eighty shuriken."

"The twin dragons..._THE TWIN DRAGONS?!?!?!_ How did you manage to get these?? And...What did all those cost you!?"

"I'd rather keep it for myself, the way I got them. As for how much I paid for them...Don't worry, the thirty ryo you put in my hands aren't even half gone. I brought you back twenty." **(A/N: **Hey now, I really need to give LOADS of thanks to the most amazing manga ever, _Blade of the Immortal_. I mean, if it wasn't _Hiroaki Samura's_ fascinating plot and art and all, I wouldn't know much of the things I mention in this fic. I got to know types of swords and kenjutsu names, just like I got to know much about swords and battojutsus last year with _Nobuhiro Watsuki's_ _Rurouni Kenshin_. I also learned lots about feudal Japan, more than what we learn to school, and about the money, the economics of that season and all. So praise _B.O.T.I. manga_ for this minor reffer of mine to ryo, it has to do with money but I don't know how to explain exactly what it is in english, I still suck. **Gomen ")** Neji said and threw a little bag on Tsuade's desk. The lace that kept it closed untied and gold coins run out on the papers.

"Wow. That's just a lot of money" Naruto said, the image of the small bag and its contents reflecting in his sky-blue eyes.

"Save it, general Uzumaki." Tsunade said and, after puttin the coins back in, she tied the lace and placed the small bag in one of the drawers on her desk.

"Tch...You made a good deal, Hyuuga" Sasuke said, arms folded across his chest.

"Thanks for the appreciation, my lord"

"Who said I'm praising you?! I could have done it myself!"

"Trust me, my prince when I say that with the certain person, only I could end up on a deal good for both sides. Only I."

"Don't you think you're overreacting _a bit_ Hyuuga?" Sasuke questioned, emphasizing his words.

"Enough already! Just go bring them!" Tsunade interrupted, a tired tone on her voice.

"And give them to?" Neji said sarcastically.

"General Uzumaki, general Nara, you stay here and gather our men. General Hyuuga, prince, you go bring the blades here. The for of you depart immediately, be back in one hour _all of you_."

"And...what about the fire?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's why you're a messenger, general Nara. You'll find all Jounin in this building. Go call Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuh--" Tsunade said but cut off her own sentence. Her eyes flied to the window. "Yuuhi Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko are of hold of the enemy...Well, I guess these two can make it...With the help of the Duke."

"Tsunade-sama! Are you sure you want your husband to leave?" Shizune asked worried.

"It's none of your buisiness, Shizune. Nara, go tell them. The turn down the fire, the silence the people, is that clear?"

"Of course...I'm off to." Shikamaru nodded and followed the others.

Once the door of her office was finally shut, Tsunade collapsed on her chair. She sighed and looked at Shizune, the paperpack in her arms seemed to be teasing her. She furrowed her brows and let out a small huff, then breathed deeply in. She looked at the papers again, frustrated.

"Darn it...I've had enough for today, Shizune, take this pack away before I set it on fire!"

"Oh...Tsunade-sama, are you sure you don't want me to do something for you?" Shizune said as she left the pack somewhere near the others that filled the floor and the surface of Tsunade's desk in the office.

"Yes I am. Just leave then, Shizune...Go call Jiraiya, please. I've got something pretty importand to tell him before he goes to help the other Jounin silence the cirizents..."

Shizune left and done as she was told, called the Duke and sent him to the Dutchess' office.

The same moments that Sasuke and Neji were heading for the Hyuuga prodigy's hideout with fast steps, almost running.

"Hey, Hyuuga..." Sasuke spoke sudden;y.

"What?"

"You know that I agree with that old hag, eh? She's right. Blades that are of the Twin Dragons quality are pretty difficult to find, let aside the origin ones, not to mention the price. You said ayou paid only ten ryo for 160,000 blades. How come?"

"I just made a good deal, I guess." Neji answered, his face pale and frozen, not a grin on it.

"Come on now, Hyuuga..." the Uchiha prince turned to face his comrade, "...you have been missing for almost two days before you showed up tonight. And as far as I can tell, you spent a whole day and half of the next wityh the one you dealt with." Sasuke smirked. "It was a girl, huh?"

Neji's hands tied in fists and his lips went into the thin, barely visible line that was his characteristic. "None of your buisiness, my prince. Don't mess around and please, don't push it any further." he said as calmly as he could, careful not to lose his temper in front of the future King.

"Won't share it with an old friend, Hyuuga?" Sasuke continued teasing him. He wanted to know so badly how the hell Neji got to such a great deal without even the help of some Jounin, all by himself.

"Oh, won't you ever stop? Did I ever asked you what's up between you and Sakura?" The words escaped his lips before he could stop them and then he walked silent, as if he'd done something unforgivable.

"Wouldn't do me much of a change even if you DID care to ask, Hyuuga...So it was a girl, after all. You're even worse than me! Who knows what kind of whore was that, to just _happen_ to possses, perhaps _stolen?_ all those--" Sasuke had gone too far. Before he was able to continue, Neji's hand reached his collarbone and his fingers wrapped the Uchiha's shirt. With his free hand he threw a punch right into his King's-to-be face; Sasuke barely dodged it. "What are you doing, Hyuuga?" he asked in a not so low tone.

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Neji yelled and threw another punch to him, this time reaching and hitting Sasuke's left shoulder.

"Gyah!...Cut it out, Hyuuga!" Sasuke shouted, but Neji seemed as ig he'd went mad. "Do you realise who you're talking to?" he continued in a dangerously low tone.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH OUT, BRAT!"

"WHAT?!"

"SHUT IT! SHUT IT RIGHT NOW!"

"What did you say?!" Sasuke yelled and grabbed Neji's hand while it aimed for his face again, and with a swift movement he had freed himself from Neji's wrath and was behind him. But the Hyuuga prodigy was exactly at his grounds, rotation was his expertise. Before Sasuke could even wonder how, he had turned to face his King once more, the veins near his eyes visible, nearing his release of the ultimate attacks of the Hyuuga clan, their bloodline limit. "Who did you call a brat?"

Neji didn't answer. He looked at the young man with his eyes straight fixed on Sasuke's, not letting out a word. And then... "You're a year and twenty days younger than me"

"What are...So? I am the one who's the King's son, you..."

"What a great prince...At a loss of words?" Neji addressed, sarcasm filling the atmosphere around them.

"You think you're a better prince, Hyuuga? Let's see you having to deal with everything I do!"

"At least I do everything in my power to serve and protect my clan!"

"WHAT CLAN DO I HAVE TO SERVE AND PROTECT, YOU PUNK!? HUH?"

"THE ONE YOU'D STILL HAVE IF YOU WEREN'T JUST A COWARD!"

"OH YEAH, BUT YOURS IS BROKEN AS WELL, YOU SIDE-BRANCH SUBORDINATE!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Or do you plan to revive it as well? Going around and doing it with the first whore your eyes will catch a glimpse of? Great thoughts of a Hyuuga prodigy, dealing with whores and thieves to serve the kingdom and protect his clan!"

"SHUT IT ALREADY, YOU IDIOTIC SCUMBAG!" **(A/N:** Yay! Another word _Manji_ from _Blade of The Immortal_ uses! Ooooh, I like this manga _SO VERY MUCH_!

They had both crossed the line already and they knew there was no comeback. They parted only for the mere seconds it took each to activate his own bloodline limit.

"Sharingan!"

"Byakugan!"

And there they were, the princes of the two most powerful clans of the kingdom, the future king and the best soldier Konohagakure ever gave birth to, facing each other, fists formed, ready to get thrown into faces or chests, chakra gathering cand each of them trying to track what the other would do with the help of their ability.But just because Sharingan and Byakugan were of almost the same effects, each could see through the attacks of the other. Thus when Sasuke screamed "CHIDORI!" and sent the shining energy ball to Neji, the later used Byakugan to see through the chakra, rotated perfectly and with a quick swift he was next to the Uchiha, ready to use his 64-chakra-points attack on him. But again, Sasuke used the Sharingan to see through the Hyuuga's moves and dodged every attack at once.

They didn't understand that Sharingan and Byakugan weren't that effective when working against each other and so they kept on, thowing punches and kicks to each otehr, always missed the target and always dodging them even at the last moment, speeding up every mere second, never stopping. None of the two even huffed once, none missed a breath and they kept fighting, opposing fiercely each other, uncaring of the fact that they were both princes and servants of the same kingdom.

But who of the gods that looked upon them was nice enough for them to make them stop before they get hurt? In a few minutes, rushed footsteps were heard and the place was at once filled with men of the Hyuuga clan, Neji's comrades.

"My lord!"

"Neji-sama!"

"The prince is fighting our King?"

"My prince!!"

That voice distracted Neji from Sasuke and he turned at once to look at the rest of the Hyuuga men, who he called family.

"What?" he asked, not letting his guard down for a possible sudden attack from Sasuke.

"The pirates, my prince...The got on ground!"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Yay! I finished it! **

**To all of you: I was always wondering what would happen if Byakugan and Sharingan were opposed. Kishimoto never put Neji and Sasuke in a fight, so I don't know how it would be, and I always wondered. Since they have almost the same effects, no? If they were used against each other, nothing would happen, right? So that's why I did that up there! **

**You know, sometimes the night's heat is a good thing. Last night we went to bed about 02:00 am...I wasn't able to digest the dinner properly, and it was SO DAMN hot that I couldn't sleep at all. I doubt I slept ten minutes the whole night. I was dozing off, yes, but NEVER sleeping for more then two or three mins! **

**So, I gave up trying to sleep at 6 in the morning and sat up, grabbed my notebook and wrote that scene where Sasuke and Neji start to fight with words. I wanted to complete this chapter today. I was sitting and looking at Akylina, sleeping next to me, with such a sweet face, and then FLASH! "Byakugan!" "Sharingan!" The snence came alive just in front of my eyes, and WHOOOOP! It already is 10 A4 pages long, the longest (chapter) I've ever written. I couldn't keep it going and keep it going, I wanted to present Hinata in the first lines, and if not lines paragraphs of a chapter. So yes, this time, the next is gonna be the one Hinata appears AT LAST. Sorry to all those that awaited it for so long. **

**PS to my sister: Hope you liked it, little girl.**

**Hope you enjoyed, seriously.**

**PLease leave some reviews on your way out...**


	16. The eyes that show no mercy

**Hello there! Chappie up! Oh, this will please everyone. Okay, I just hope so. It's the great one that everyone (duh) has been waiting for? Hinata appears, Naruto talks more, there are more characters implied, and well, I like it a lot and I no more care if I don't get reviews or whatever. **

**Say...I have posted that on a forum for foreign countries' TV shows that my school's homepage has and ...Well...I got many flames. I had 54 messages, and the 46 were flames. The others were either critisism on my english or my plot or what I wrote, the dialogues and the facts...Well, about my english, I'M NOT GOD! And besides, everyone in there was greek, and I can tell that I was by far better than them! Oh, they wrote "you is so bad, does you know? That think suked with my all"...I mean, flame me about my english when you're BETTER THAN ME! **

**I got most of the flames for the SasuSaku kiss and the NejiTen lime-part...**

**And the worst part is that one of the two english-teaching professors of the school actually READ the whole story..Well, she was kind enough to say that the story has a good plot, even though it seems mysterious and leaves everyone hanging. And that if I chose english next year, if I have her as a teacher, to ask help whenever I want for this story.**

**Thanks to that.**

**Anyway, I do not own Naruto and the rest.**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

"What?" Neji repeated, as if he had misheard. But no. It was just the truth. And just the thought of the danger Hanabi would be in shot fire in him and relit his hatred for the pirates. He moved, turned to fully face his men. "I've got orders for you." he told them. "We've got to take the blades we bought the other day to the Hokage mansion. The ten of you that were with me that day, take a step forward. The rest of you, take just as many blades you can carry...No! Just as many as you need! Go, back to the compund and do EVERYTHING possible to protect the princess! Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" about thirty voices answered. And Sasuke knew that they'd all forgotten him.

And then the Hyuuga men were parting in two, and twenty of them were filling their holsters with kunai and shuriken and they were leaving, they were going back under the orders of _their_ prince and not him. And the rest of the men were sharing the boxes between them, each holding one over their heads, and Neji was doing the same, encouraging them, and he was turning towards him now, Sasuke, turning to face him at last, and he was talking.

"I am not sorry for breaking our duel, but I am sorry for letting my temper destroy all. My apologies. I know they are of no use to you, but just to have it clear with myself. Please, for now, let's put the matter aside, and you help us. Grab and lift this one last box ad let's go, the Fifth will be angry if we're not back in time."

"Who cares about that old hag?" Sasuke said viciosly, but he lifted the remaining box and begun walking. "What a drag..." he sighed as the rest followed him. "When I'll become King..."

"If you do..." Neji whispered and watched him boasting about things he was going to change and do when his time arrived.

And in a few minutes they were there. And they were just in time. They could see that the battle had already begun down near the seashore. Naruto and Shikamaru were there, out of the Hokage mansion, with all the kingdom's other soldiers, waiting for their arrival.

"Tch. Princes...Move your butts ladies!" The Uzumaki was yelling.

And then they were reaching. Sasuke let dow the box he was carrying and shot Naruto a death glare.

"Let's see you walk fast if carrying something like that, you idiot!" he said acrimoniously.

"I'll go inform the Fifth. Get ready and I'll be right back" Neji said and headed to the mansion. He walked in and saw people running around like crazy, shouting and exchaning papers and boxes. He walked through the corridors and reached Tsunade's office. The door was closed and there was no sound from inside. That was strange. Normally, most of the noise in that certain part of the building was coming from Tsunade's office. Neji knocked the door once, waiting patiently for her answer. _Perhaps she is busy_.

No answer, though.

_Or maybe not?_

In any case, he knocked again, and then heard a strange voice asking _"Won't you answer that door anyway?"_

There was an argument going on inside, probably. So Neji just stepped back a bit and waited.

Inside...

"Like I care for the damn door! Why won't you listen to me?" Tsunade shouted.

"Because you don't listen to me either!" The man opposite her spoke.

"Don't be so stubborn!"

"Look who's talking about stubborness! Sensei always told us that you're the most stubborn and--"

"Don't play innocent to me! I know!"

_Knocks on the door again._

"Then WHY to this day you are STILL like that? Sensei told you to change! And won't you open that door?" The person was obviously irritated.

"FORGET THE DAMN DOOR! We're talking now! Because if I wasn't like that, I wouldn't be Hokage now."

"I can't get you, Tsunade, I really can't! Why are you so stressed about it?"

"Because I care about you and I'm worried, ok? I don't want you to get hurt now that I..We need you!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, until Sasuke becomes king you and I are the Heads of thi land, if you go get yourself killed, I can't take care of everything on my own!" Tsunade admitted.

"Oh, that's what you've been worrying about!" Jiraiya turned his head and looked at her from the corner of his eye. She was getting humiliated.

"NO! It's you! It's you that I am worried about, it's you that I don't want to lose!" Her words showed that indeed she was worried, but that anxiety of hers would cost Jiraiya his freedom.

"You're getting annoying, Tsunade! Lately every word of yours means my suffocation!"

"Then why did you marry m--"

The flow of her words was cut as Jiraiya, not able to stand more of her lecturing and wanting to go help the soldiers wrapped her from the shoulders and kissed her, full in the mouth, like he was waiting to do that for the whole time she was lecturing him. Needless to say that he surprised her, but would she ever hold back from his kiss? So she forgot about the door that had already been knocked for the fourth time as well and lost herself in her husband's kiss, leaving her mind somwhere along the way.

But out from the office there was still a war and a battle, and a certain Hyuuga waiting to take his orders, and this certain Hyuuga had begun to feel really impatient. So, assuming that maybe Tsunade had again fallen asleep after drinking too much again, since he had heard nothing more than the first sentence of Tsunade's and Jiraiya's argument, he opened the door and stepped in.

"Godaime, the prince and I--" he started, but was never able to continue. The scene in front of him was too much for the Hyuuga prince, much enough for him to stand in a loss for words, and being able to only barely whisper "...brought the blades and wait for your orders..."

Tsunade noticed him suddenly and immediatelly tore herself from Jiraiya's wrath, her cheeks flushed, going back to the security of the chair behind her desk. Jiraiya coughed, not even a bit embarassed or at least touched by the caught-on-act fact, and looked at his wife.

"I'll go now. Don't worry about me" he said, and left the office with a wave of his hand, like Neji hadn't even showed up in there.

"G..General Hyuuga..." She was very embarassed. She was blushing hard and Neji had never seen her in such an uncomfortable stage.

"Eh, yeah...That indeed is a bit...Well, I am no one to judge you, Godaime. I'm just here to ask you what our orders are now that we brought the blades."

"Oh you did? You're quick, really. I'll come down with you to see the others as well."

And so they got down, for Tsunade to talk to the other generals and soldiers as well. She was still having in mind the incident, though, and it troubled her, whether Neji would or not keep his mouth shut about what he had seen in her office. The Hyuuga prodigy WAS indeed a prodigy. He could tell by her look exactly what burdained her, and so he spoke silently, so for no one else to hear them.

"Don't worry yourself more, Godaime. I won't say a thing, I swear it. Besides, even if I started saying something, the only one who would sit and listen would be Naruto, and if he then was to say the stpry to someone else, he's add his own sentences and he would say that I was peeking...So don't worry. You already have dozens of things in your head to be there, those recent thoughts don't belong there. Get rid of them, it never happened." he said gently, to rid her from her unnecessary fears.

"..Thank you, General Hyuuga. I feel lighter now" Tsunade said and offered him one of those smiles of hers, that many girls of the kingdom seemed to have adopted.

And there they were, in front of every other. Neji took his place next to his men and Tsunade walked beside everyone, standing between them.

"The men of the Hyuuga clam will provide the rest with these blades. The generals will refresh their suplies as well, and they shall lead everyone to the battle. From your squads, no more than five people in each, and stay stuck. The pirates are gaining ground, two Jounin and the Duke alone can't hold them all. They've got an incredible power with them. For that power's termination, I am counting on you, gentlemen. General Uzumaki, for your strength. General Nara, for your brain. General Hyuuga, for your clear and wise view of things and your patience. And finally, the prince...For your standning in battle, your never-to-fail a comrade. I've already set some ANBU members to assist the Jounin and the Duke...But you're the best we've got." the Hokage said, and raising her hand she showed them the shore where the battle was already bursting hard; flashes of light exchanged. And then the rough voice of the Duke was heard, strong, above all, above even the noises of the storm, strong like a thunder.

_"Rasengan!"_

The generals exchanged looks.

"That's bad." Sasuke started.

"If HE's using Rasengan THAT early then it's tough..." Shikamaru said. "What a troublesome fight this's gonna be..."

"Gya! No fair! He revealed my power that early! Ero-sennin!" Naruto started, amusingly irritated.

"What are you talking about? The guy on the main mast broke through Hinata's defences! He's the one who took her! He's the one who kidnapped the Silver Fog of the Hyuuga clan!" Neji shouted, and everyone was looking at him.

"That's the bastard that took Hinata-chan? HE'S AS GOOD AS DEAD!" Naruto yelled, shaking his fist towards the shadow standing on the mast.

"Silver Fog, what Silver Fog?"

"Tch...Probably another nickname to blindfold our impression about their priced princess"

"Won't you EVER stop mocking my clan? IT'S NOT A NICKNAME! It was given to her the day she was born! It's a tittle that passes from mother to daughter, a real burdain and a great responsibility for a Hyuuga princess to bear! You have NO IDEA what responsibilities it holds!" Neji yelled, irritated that his King was still making fun of his clan.

"Not like mine, anyway!"

"Won't you stop already? Instead of going to help get rid of those punks that attack us you are fighting each other? Come to your senses, why don't you? If we lose to guys like _those _your responsibilities, prince Sasuke will never come to the surface! Just go!" Tsunade exploaded, tired of Sasuke's and Neji's constant rivalry. The two looked at her surprised and then nodded surrendering, complying with their orders.

Neji's comrades opened the boxes and started giving the other men blades, the amount of kunai and shuriken each would need. Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke and Neruto refreshed their supplies as well and looked at the men around them.

"Any plans from the geniuses?" muttered Naruto

"I only have one suggestion. That old hag of our Hokage said to form squads of five the most, but that just won't work. About...Whay not like the ones beck when we were Genin? We leaders of each team and chosing three other men to be in our teams?" Sasuke suggested.

"He's right. we'll last longer like that. Shikamaru, any strategies?" Neji asked.

"Stay together, don't lose the formations, be sure not to run out of blades before time comes...And win?" Konoha's laziest shinobi replied and everyone laughed, the atmosphere going lighter.

"Alright now, let's form the squads! Mine will be first to go!" Naruto yelled and immediately found three men to join him, then departed, heading for the battle.

"This is going to be troublesome...But I'll do it for Konoha. Who wants to come with me? One, two, three--alright, I leave as well. See you soon." Shikamaru and his men left, following Naruto. Neji didn't want to talk to Sasuke again, so he just formed his team, forming other teams with the Hyuuga men as well and then they all left.

Sasuke looked around him. Who could he pick? Until chosing someone, he decided to give them time to form their own teams by themselves, and then chose his own comrades.

"Alright guys, you heard both Godaime and the Nara. Stick together, give it your best and we won!" he said. "Come on"

In a few minutes, they were all down at the battlefield the coast had turned into, throwing themselves in the fight.

Kunai and shuriken sent flying, whistling in the air, and both sides dodged and held back, then threw the second wave of blades to each other. Both dodged again and bent. The pirates seemed to be well prepared their next wave of kunais had explossive tags tied on them. Naruto noticed them with the corner of his eye and before they would reach the ground or someone of Konoha's men, he threw himself in the air, yelling. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

The air above Konoha's men filled with yelling doppel gangers, orange and grinning. In seconds, just mere seconds, he was there, creating a solid wall, protecting everyone.

"OI! Everone! Watch out, there are explosive tags on them this time!" Naruto and his shadow clones yelled, forming a flying, solid shield as the explosive tagged kunai approached.

"Naruto! Are you crazy? You're gonna get killed!" One of the three generals yelled, but Naruto couldn't tell who it was. The next second the kunai were touching the shadow clones.

A loud noise, like a gigantic "BANG!" was heard and the next second the smoke from Naruto's disappearing shadow clones his Konoha's men from the sight of the pirates.

"Bloody hell, what on earth was that?"

"Did we hi'the bastards?"

"There's this damn smoke floating!"

"I can't see a friggin thing!"

"Did we get them?"

And then it was Konoha's turn to act. A huge iron wave of flaming shuriken came suddenly out of the smoke, flying to them like a levitating hell. The heat of the fire approached them far before the blades and when they all threw kunai in the air, trying to distract the shuriken from their goals, whenever every blade reached the shuriken, they would immediately melt and fall on the ground useless.

"We'll get them! They're hopeless!" Naruto yelled and Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at the side, smiling satisfied.

"No, they're not..." Neji said when his eye caught the silver flash that came from the ship. "WATCH OUT!" He yelled to everyone who could hear him and three himself out front. As the flash approached the flaming shuriken, there was a sound like water falling on fire, and then the blades were laying fallen on the ground, just like the pirates' kunais before.

"WHAT? How did they do that?" Naruto yelled, now both sides out of blades.

"I've got no idea, but now prepare for chakra duels..." Shikamaru said.

"It was not them, they're wetting their pants, they couldn't hve done it!" Sasuke said angrily as they were all gathering chakra to perform their attacks.

"It came from the ship...It's that guy's doing! It's...That was one of Hinata's most feared defences! How is he using that? The bastard! I myself taught Hinata that!" Neji hissed behind his greeted teeth.

The pirates were great chakra users as well, in a few seconds they all had shining little balls of energy in their hands, just like the men of Konoha. And then next second everyone was sending them flying in the air, aiming for each's enemy. The four generals looked at each other and nodded.

"Rasengan!"

"Katon: Gokayou No Jutsu!"

"Kaiten!"

Shikamaru was the one who took advantage of the moment's confusion and ran out of sight, aiming for a place near the one who was leading the pirates. While the other three were perforning their attacks and aiming them seemingly to the rest, giving him space, he spotted the one who he wanted. There was one man in front of the others, probably giving them others and such, who seemed to be their leader. Shikamaru waited for the right moment, and there it was.

The wind that whirled from Neji's Kaiten combined Narut's Rasengan with the flames of Sasuke's Katon and sent them blowing in the air, for they flew united, controlled by the wind waves Neji's rotation technique created. It reached a point above the crew of the pirate ship and stopped there. It was levitating due to the force Kaiten gave to it, shining from Rasengan's light and flaming like a small sun, turning the night into day momentarily.

In those insecure seconds Shikamaru found his chance. The shadows were longer at night, and with a light like that, to be able to move it wherever he wanted, he could do it now. He sat on the ground and brought his fingers together, concentrating on the person in front of him.

"Kage Mane No Jutsu!"

- - - -

_On the ship..._

A dark clothed figure climbed on the wooden mast, reaching for the pannier. In that small, rounded cell stood the captain of Yoru No Koe, straight and strong like a tall tree's trunk, a hand placed before the forehead to offer the no-pupiled eyes a better view. The man joined his captain, slightly huffing.

"Oi, captain...How're things?" he asked, quietly so not to be heard over the waves' sound. Not that in such a storm it was possible.

"I helped them a bit bu they don't seem to get better..." The voice that answered was deep and cold, mysterious, like it belonged to no human being. It sent chills down the other man's spine even though he was supposed t be familiar with it by now. "...but I still wonder what they're up to now..." The silver eyes grew wide when realisation came. "You did send men to go get her, eh Kiba?"

Silence.

"Didn't you?" the voice insisted, sharper into the night.

A small chuckle escaped the young man's lips and Kiba smirked. "Shino's the leader...You need not to worry, captain. Your sister will be here any moment now, Hinata!"

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Yeah, here it is. The so awaited chapter. It ended up in a bit of a KibaHina scene, due to my sister's pressure. But I planned it to be a NaruHina pairing in this fic and a NaruHina it will be. No matter what young sister says.**

**So, this, Hinata's appearance is dedicated to Jared, since he's such a fanboy of hers as he says. Did you like it?**

**Next chapter transferrs us to Suna in the end, if you missed Temari!**


	17. Neverending

**Hello! This is quite a capter, in my opinion, I like it very much. I dont know why, though, it doesn't have anything special.**

**But anyway, It may be just me. Anyway. I love the next more ecause ShikaTema starts once again...Glmp, and how it stats..**

**Or is it that I've got my 16th Birthday today? 10th of August that is! YES! I DO! I'E GOT MY BDAY, I'VE GOT MY BDAY!**

**Oh, I almost revealed everything! Daah. Shut it an just type!**

**I do NOT own Naruto**

* * *

"Good. That's the only thing we need to do for now. I'd had no other reason to attack this kingdom than to free my sister from the clan's wrath. Oh, and if the Head is killed in the process, then all the more so great." The voice was still cold and to stranger's ears it would seem emotionless. But to Kiba's, the longing to see and affection towards her sister and hatred for her father was obvious. He put an arm around her shoulders sympathetically and whistled. 

"Don't worry cap'! Your sister is wise enough, she'll come here without second thought!"

"For the Head's sake, I hope so...And take that arm off of me!"

"Oh, right, gomen!"

_Back at the shore..._

"Heh...Kage mane no jusu...Success."

- - -

"What?" the leader of the pirate ship's men tried to stretch his arm, surprised that he suddenly couldn't move. "My...my body! I can't move!"

Sasuke, Neji, Naruto and Shikamaru got out front, the first three still concentrated on the energy sun they created.

"Yo! Over here!" Shikamaru shouted. The man turned to face him, and felt his left arm moving without his mind giving it the order to.

"Y-you! What did you--How did you do that?" he asked, shaking.

"Shadows stretch, I caught yours in mine, well...Haven't you heard of Peter Pan, aw, and you call yourself a pirate? Tch tch tch.." Shikamaru said teasingly and Naruto burst out in laughter.

"You...What are you?" the man asked, trying to get their attention on him. After all, this was al a bait. He and his men were nothing more than a fake attack, a bubble on the water. He knew that if something went wrong, his captain would cut off his head within mere seconds.

"What am I? What are we, Naruto? Neji? Sasuke? Aren't we protectors of Konoha?"

"Oh we are!" Naruto yelled.

"And you're attacking our home" Neji continued.

"So back off if you cherish your lives" Sasuke ended.

"You bastards, that's OUR line!"

Sasuke's brows furrowed.

"And you're on OUR land, hello? Excuse me pal, but do you really think it just _happened_ that we are at an advantage?"

"Heh heh...Heheheh...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Advantage he said! Did you hear him guys? They're at an advantage..."

"...Wait a minute, there's something fishy here..." Neji said.

"Eh? But we're next to the sea!?" Naruto pointed.

"Not _that_ fishy , you idiot!" Sasuke smacked him, sighing.

"Yeow! Sasuke!"

"Shut up...Neji's right...Look at them!" Shikamaru whispered. "Don't they look A LOT fewer from this ankle? What could it be? Genjutsu?"

"No." said Sasuke and Neji in the same time, but Neji was the one to continue. "It's not a genjutsu, either Sasue or I would have noticed. They'd probably used shadow clones...It's a cheap trick, mostly like pirates!"

"Then...Are all those...Just those few? And the rest of them on the ship, like a backup?" Shikamaru scratched his head.

"What if this ws just a bait for us, so the rest could go and attack somewhere else?" Naruto asked

"What? Nonesense Naruto!" Sasuke chucled.

"What? Wait...NO!" When realisation hit him, it was already far too late. Neji turned to the direction of the Hyuuga mansion and activated his Byakugan that has been inactive for the tiny moment he dropped his guard. He turned his eyes and saw smoke, ruined gates, hurt people on the ground, smashed buildings and rooms at compete mess, Hiashi kneeling next to the stairs, supporting himself on the wooden staff he always carried, one hand on his face, hiding his eyes. "No...Hanabi!" Neji yelled and turned his gaze towards the man Shikamaru had caught in his shadow.

"Eh? What's with the fireworks now?" Naruto asked silly. **_(note:_** _hanabi__ means firework, if someone doesn't know_

"Damn, Naruto, won't you everstop making stupi questions?Hanabi is his cousin's name!" Sasuke said, his punch again hitting Naruto's head.

"Oi, Sasuke!Cut it out! Hinata-chan's sister? What's with her?" Naruto wondered.

"BASTARD! Why are you after her? Why, WHY? Didn't your freaky boss have enough Hyuuga blood?" Neji shouted, out of control, and since the other was nable to move, he hit him wherever he could. "ANSWER ME! Where is she? WHERE IS SHE? SPEAK!" Punches and kicks, Neji had suddenly switched from the noble Jyuuken to he brutal Gouken without even noticing.

The poor man wasn't given a second to even open his mouth to speak, and even when Shikamaru couldn't hold him in Kagemane anymore, he couldn't defend himself. He fell on the ground, unable to even use his hand to protect himself. The rst of his men were already backing off, retreating silently to the safety of their ship, to immediately go and inform their captain.

"Oi, Neji! If you keep on like that he'll die! Neji!" Shikamaru said.

"Tch. Stubborn, aren't you? Cut it out, or you'll get no words form him in he end." Sasuke smirked.

"YAA! YOU BASTARDS! You took Hinata-chan and now you want to take Hanabi-chan too? I won't let you! Bring back Hinata-chan! " Naruto yelled and, if Shikamaru and Sasuke weren;t there to hold him back, he would have joined Neji in kicking the other's butt.

"Damn you, ANSWER ME! WHERE IS HANABI?"

If he was more calm, he y have been able tosave her. Hanabi was still on the ground, so close to him, that if he had kept his temper down he would have sensed her chakra and saved her.

She was walking in the woods, with the "company" of the pirates who had come to get her. In the beginningshe had been afraid and had locked herself in her room, but when Shino's bugs had unlocked it and he had gone in, she was stuck on her bed, scared to death. After all she was only twelve and Shino nineteen, and besides, Shno had always been scary. But whe he wouldn't stretch an arm to her, she had raised her head a bit and loked at him, and he had spoken, words that Hanabi would never imagine she would believe. And so she had willingly followed him, them, to wherever that ws they would take her. Away from this place. Away from Hiashi. Away from..._him. _That "him" could have made her backoff, but the aspect of freedom that was unfolding in front of her was more tempting, and she gave in. She would love again, wouldn't she?

Rustles of leaves from the bushes behind them set the four henerals on alarm, even though Neji still hadn't let go of his grasp on the poor pirate_**.(A/N** ironyyyyyX**D)**_

"Let go of him."It was Shino, the one who the voice belonged to. The four's eyes opened wide and Naruto's jaw dropped, he, _they_ hadn't seen one from Hinata's team for some years! Neji though got over the surprise quickly, and instead of anything else, he pulled out of his boot a his last kunai, a special one, gift from Tenten and pressed it against the man's throat.

"Or else?" he asked, a small smile playing upon his lips.

"Release him, Hyuuga."

"Not until you tell me where are my cousins! And if you have Hanabi there let her go, here and now! I don't know how you, and I suppose that Inuzuka guy as well, ended up on _their_ side..." Neji said and shook hishead to the direction of the prate ship, "...but you will take no more Hyuuga from thi land. Let Hanabi go, or he dies." He dragged a small and thin line on the throat of the man he was holding and he felt him twitching.

And then...

_"Enough already! Stop it now, BOTH of you!"_

_Somewhere else..._

One woman moved in the darkness, reaching for the small opening on the wall that was supposed to be a window. She took a deep breath, greedily taking in the fresh air, trying to take in as much of it as she could. She repeated the same movement several times, but her dizziness just wouldn't go away. She sat there, next to the window, trying to blow away the nauseous feeling that tormented her for several weeks now. She lifted her arms and in the little ligh that came from outside she inspected tem, her scar reflecting in her crimson eyes. The still hadn't gone away.

"You should come here for a bit too..." she poke in a strange voice, as if it hasn't been used for a long time. "It's clearer here."

"Really? Finally!" An other woman replied. She came and sat close to the first and did what she had done, breathed in the small amount of fresh air that was coming from the opening on the wall. "The air in here stinks...Oi, what about you? Are you better today?" she asked the red-eyed woman beside her.

"Aa. A bit, yes." lied the other. The nauseous feeling hadn't subsided at all and today she had a stomachache, not to mention her constant headache. She forced a smile that the other seemed to take as real, and then turned at the opening on the wall again The sky was clear today, a light blue piece of it mirrorizing in both their eyes.

"Nee.." The other woman started. "Do you think someone ill come?"

"He _will_ come. Once he learns what happened, he will come to free me. He won't leave me alone, I know it." replied the red-eyed one. And then, when she was about to force another smile for the other to see, something hit her throat. Her stomach turned and the anything that any of them has eaten the last three days came out in a watery liquid. She put a hand in front of her mouth to prevent anything else to come out of there and fell on her knees, coughing. She kept coughing, she couldn't stop it, and sheknew that she would no longer fool her friend now. Her black hair fell in her face, hiding her.

"Oi! Are you alright?" The other woman asked worried, and kneeled beside her. She was coughing so hard that she couldn't breathe, not answer the other's question. "Hey! What's going on? Hey!" The other put an arm around the shoulders of the aching one and slightly patted her back. "Kurenai, are you alright?"

She had shivers now, and she couldn't even say that she was cold. So cold...

"Kurenai?"

The world around her was spinning She could no longer recognse her surroundings.

"Kurenai!"

The last thing she saw was a small part of the sky, shining freedom.

"KURENAI!"

-- -- --

"I said stop it. Both of you. Now!" The deep and cold voice that echoed at all the length of the coast sent chills through everyone's backs. Even Neji felt a twitch of fear deep in his heart; even Sasuke took a hesitent step back.

"Captain." Shino's voice shot through the silence. "I apologise. Mission is complete. Hyuuga Hanabi heard what she had to and is now ready to sail with us."

"Those are good news, Aburame-san. Proceed to the ship. Kiba is waiting, he already has a room ready for the Silver Fog." The captain of Yoru No Koe appeared, head hidden behind the hood of his cloak.

"Hey wait just a minute! Bastard! So you haven't had enough?" Neji yelled and stood out front, pulling the man he was holding with him, leaving the rest of Konoha's men behind. "Why are you now back for Hanabi? Wasn't Hinata enough for you, son of a bitch?!" he shouted and reached the person dressed in black. "WHat did you do? WHAT? Hinata is to come back, Hanabi won't leave! You hear me?" And his punch flied to the other's face.

"Neji, eh?" spoke the person, instantly catching Neji's wrist before it could even touch the fabric of his cloak. "Long time no see...How's Hiashi doing?"

"He's still alive, like you. Burdain...I WANT MY COUSINS BACK RIGHT AWAY, YOU STUPID OLD MAN!" He yelled and activated his Byakugan once more, this time, every hit that he'd release, would hit chakra with chakra.

Even though he didn't know it was her, Hinata didn't let him understand it. She was surprised by the pain she encountered in his voice when he asked for her and Hanabi to go back, a pain that only she knew it was real and hurt him like hell, probably that much as the indellible scar that he had in his soul and carried on his forehead, the loss of his father. Shehad already faced the attack he was about to bring on, though. Their oppose on the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exams seven years ago was still in her mind, never leaving her, always there to remind her how she had lost, how much stronger she could be when she tried harder and harder.

_"I have seen his moves before...I am strong enough to repay him on the same coin...Oh, I'm so very sorry Neji-nii-san, but that's something I cannot let you butt in..That's just between me, dad and Hanabi. I am sorry."_ Hinata thought to herself and hen spoke, her voice more normal now. "This is as far as I'll allow you guys to go. My men owe you nothing. It's me that you've got issues with, gentlemen. Leave them alone. Neji, let go of Hiruma right now.

Who could have imagined that the one who would understand the one behind the hood was Hinata would NOT be Neji, a realative, her own cousin, but Naruto!

His eyes widened, he was the one who had taught Hinata how to transform her voice in a huge variety of other tones, and he remembered that this particular one was her favorite, especially when she wanted to make him laugh, or the few times, scare him. He took a step forward and begun walking towards the person who was wearing pirates clothes, but may be carrying the heart he once loved and cherished more than his own ambition to someday become Hokage, ignoring Sasuke's and Shikamaru's whispers.

"Dobe! What do you think you're doing! Don't butt in there!"

"Oi, Naruto! That's a matter between that man and the Hyuuga clan!"

"HE'S NOT A MAN! IT'S HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled and pointed at her side.

"What?" Neji whispered and tried to look beneath the hood, the face of the person he was opposing. "H-Hinata-sama?"

"Oh...Naruto-kun, you revealed me..." Hinata spoke, in her regular voice now. "Heh. Good job, remembering the voice that was my favorite, see? I still use it. Neji-nii-san, you've become really strong and you never cease to amaze me. But I am strong now as well. I have to take Hanabi away, though, she's in danger here. I expected you would have already killed Hiashi, but since you didn't, I have to take care of my little sister on my own." She said and jumped in the air and stayed there, levitating. Chakra was whirling with unbelieveable speed under her feet, and it was visible. She threw back her head and the hood fell, revealing a face no one would expect it was Hinata's. "We may see each other again, who knows? Farewell, Neji, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said and nodded to Hiruma, then took out of her cloak a small smoke explosive and threw it hardly on the ground. It epxloaded immediately and Konoha's men lost sight of the pirates.

It was a very strange smoke. Even after minutes it wouldn't subside at all, and not even Sasuke or Neji could see through it. What everyone could do was rub their eyes and wait for their view to clear, until suddenly, everything was visible. The smoke hadn't subsided, it had _vanished_ from everything around them and now, neither the pirates nor their ship were anywhere in sight. And in this rough and stormy weather and sea, it was impossible to see what was going on and how far the ship had gone.

"NO!" Neji shouted and ran to the water. Luckily, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Naruto caught him, or he would have fallen into the water to go bring Hanabi back swimming. "Hanabi!"

"Geez, calm down boy" Sasuke said, frustrated.

"Let me go! Hanabi!"

"Oi, Neji! Stop shaking like a fish and come out! You can't save her that way!"

"Save her from what?" This time it was Naruto who interfered. "She's with Hinata-chan now, what to be better?"

"Shut up Naruto..." Sasuke thre him a slap at the back of his neck.

"Sasuke!"

"HANABI!!!"

-- -- --

Three days later, thanks to the fact that everyone was a chakra user, every damage of the kingdom was fixed. The soldiers who had been injured during the battles were qiickly recovering thanks to the treatment Shizune, Sakura and Tsunade gave them. The four generals had nothing to be scolded for, as Shikamaru was afraid they would. In fact, they were praised by everyone. Even Tsunade was impressed from their perfect control of themselves and co-operation in battle. Although now...

Sasuke was laying again in his bed, irritated because Tsunade again wouldn't let him take a step out of it, and if it wasn't Sakura the one who was coming to check up on him, he would have taken all his anger out on his servants.

Naruto had recovered immediately thanks to the fox-demon's powers, and was now fine as ever, but not so energetic and cheerful. It was like his happiness had been sucked out of him. He wasn't going at the ramen shop so much lately, and that was not the strangest about him now. He would wander around the kingdom pointlessly and go on long walks, in his mind whirling Hinata's words. Hinata's eyes. Hinata's eyes that were so different, so strong; changed. He couldn't decide if he liked this change or not, the determination they hid and how she seemed to have control over everything. Who, Hinata-chan. Hinata-chan who always avoided battles if she could, Hinata-chan who always ran to him to help her, his Hinata-chan that he most of the times protected.

Neji was still recovering as well, but he didn't want to wake up. Most of the times he was tortured by nightmares again and he would lay awake for several hours in the night, pretending he was fast asleep whenever someone's footsteps were reaching his door.And even thoughhe didn't want to wake up, he still wasn't happy, being visited by those nightmares that seemed to get worse and worse. Besides, deep inside he knew that he wouldn't be left in peace for long. Once he had recovered, he would be scolded and once again blamed and despised by Hiashi, who would, of course, punish him using his power over Neji, the cursed seal on his forehead. He could feel the scar twitching even now that he was only thining about it. And when he was thinking about Hinata...Better not mention what happened.

As for Shikamaru...

Well, the guy was incredible, Tsunade decided. While the other three were injured, he escaped with only a few scratches. So, since he was the messenger, Tsunade decided to send him to Sunagakure, to ask them of a short period of time in peace for their injured and wounded to recover. And Shikamaru, thinking that he would get to see Temari and have her explain some things to him, didn't protest. And he got ready faster than usual. And he set off the same day Tsunade told him to. And he was travelling through leaves and sand and trees and hurricanes just to even see her. And he knew that this time soething would happen and everything would be alright between them.

If only he knew how wrong he was...

* * *

**So, this is it. I wrote all that and 15 more pages(two more chapters). BUT today, on the 10th of August, I've got my birthday and I believe that I need a bit of rest, don't you think? I was thinking of uploading all three today, but nyah, I've got some other things to do... 16th Bday, it's not sth little, nee?**

**So, Tanoshi tanyubi omedetto to me! Imma no, watashi wa jyu-roku sai! Finally!**

**(happy birthday to me. Now I am finally sixteen years old)**

**See ya!**


	18. Heart and mind

**Hello! Today I have pretty much of a work to do...So I won't say much, but take care of the RATING in this chapter. I didn't rate it M for nothing...**

**Nya, it's not a lemon, alright? I will not write, I promised myself.**

**Sa, I do not own Naruto, but I got a Sasuke lolipop one day...(needless to say that it was delicious)**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Travelling alone, it took him three days to reach Suna. And when he did, he noticed that something must have happened, because everyone was talking about how cruel their King had become and how their Lady Temari wasn't seen out in public only once a week. And the most weird, while he was walking towards the palace, the Kazekage mansion, he heard people talking about...

"Yes, yes, Harukawa-sama said he saw her buying clothes from those that are for little kids, and if you don't believe this, because he's kinda old and he can't see well anymore, then you should know that Araya-sama saw her at the toy-shop! And she was acting pretty strangely, if you must know!"

"Oh, really?"

"Like she didn't know what to get...And she was confused by how to use the toys she looked at!"

"She couldn't even hold a plush toy right?"

"Aa"

"That's true! I saw her as well!"

"What?"

"Yeh, yeh, I was there to buy a new plushie for my daughter and she was there, looking at the teddy-bears!"

"Oh my...Do you think that...?"

"She may have a child?"

"Oh-woo!"

"And...And WHEN did she give birth to it? When did she find some time for herself, now that I think of it?"

"She may just be pregnant now"

"But she rarely goes out, and even when she does, she's either with her brothers, elder Chiyo-sama or that Matsuri girl!"

"Yeh, she never hangs out with men, now..."

"Do you think she may adopted one?"

"Nya, Temari-san is not the type who would do that..."

"Then it's hers!...?"

"Boy, oh boy...And lord Kankurou and the King don't seem to know anything."

"Oh...Then...Is there any possibility that she...might not know the father?"

"Do you really think so?"

"Hey, the clothes she was buying were those for a child 3 or 4 years old! And 3 years ago Temari-san's attitude towards men..."

"Yeah, she was a completely different person."

"Besides, 3 years ago Temari-san was sent to that Leaf kingdom as an ambassador, ne?"

"Yeah, and there were arguments between her and the King before she left..."

"But when she cameback she was completely changed!"

"Yeah, she was hurt and..."

Shikamaru wouldn't sit theere and hear more. Either jumping to wrong conclusions or reaching for the gold, they were close to what have happened...Only they DIDN'T know what have happened between him and Temari, in fact, in fact they didn't even know that Temari and he were together. But what no one knew and if it wasn't Sakura Shikamaru wouldn't know either as the violation of their Lady by Uchiha Itachi.

But no matter the way, the road, the path he would follow, the corner he would turn, the same conversations took place everywhere.

"Temari-san hasn't been seen out much lately..."

"Yah, I heard that she's sick."

"Nya, she would have told lord Kankurou or Gaara-sama..."

"Do you really think so? Temari-jou-chan's attitude is not that of a woman dependent to her brothers..."

"Well, she might just have a cold"

That was by far the worst and out of the picture sentence Shikamaru has heard being deiscussed. And Shikamaru walked on, ready to now hear anything, anything at all.

"...yes, yes, they saw her, she went in Temari-san's place and didn't leave only late after midnight!"

"What could she possibly be doing?"

"Who knows? She was carrying a huge bag though, and she didn't have it with her when she left."

"And she was flushed!"

"And dirty!"

"Matsuri was always flushed and dirty, ever since her parents were killed she has been roaming all over the place and sleeping out on the road!"

"D'ya think T'mari-san could've t'ken 'er in?"

"Baah...Temari-san has become too unreiendly lately, to let someone like Matsuri stay at her place, even if it was just sleepover..."

Another stupid explanation in their attempts to find out why their Lady hadn't come out of her house so much lately. An even more incredible one. What would he hear next?

"Aa. I agree. She has come to be such an arrogant person!"

"And what about Elder Chiyo-sama? And that Matsuri girl? Everytime she's on a mission, she charges them with taking care of her house, and they act EXACTLY like her when she's here!"

"Yeah..."

"Did you know that the Kazekage has no idea?"

"She may be hiding something, who knows?"

"Aa. And she returns from her missions even more quickly now!"

So they were critisising her every move. It surprised Shikamaru that they hadn't begun to watch and observe her house like it was who knows what. _"So Elder Chiyo-san and that Matsuri know about Eiji..." _he thought to himself, trying to pull the pieces f the puzzle together.

"How dare you! She certainly has her own reasons!"

"Yeah, right, but what reasons would be those to make her hide in her house like she's some kind of wanted criminal or something?"

"I dont know. But if you're so curious, just go ask her!"

"The next time I'll see her, I certainly will!"

"Ah, why do you guys have to butt in in people's lives? If Temari-san has a secret then it's her right to keep it away!"

"Why do YOU butt in now?"

"Aw, come on, he's been in love with her for so much time! He would defend his precious Kaze no Ookami even if the whole world was against her!"

"Haha, really? Ah, how love shows when it's deep!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"You are, you are, and deeply fallen!"

"I'm not!"

What else would he hear, indeed, what else? They had a huge storage for their imagination, Shikamaru could admit that. But as he was walking like that, with his thoughts whirling in his head and not watching where he was going, he accidantally got lost.

"Excuse me, where exactly is the Kazekage mansion?" he asked a stranger.

"See that huge line of windows? That's it, the building. Walk over there."

"Thanks" And so he walked towards the palace, with his eyes fixed on the ground and his head full of thoughts.

"So Gaara and Kankurou don't know either...No wonder. That's Temari we're talking about, she would never tell them...What are you trying to hide, troublesome woman?" he muttered and entered the Kazekage mansion, heading to Gaara's office.

He knocked the door and, strangely enough, he got an immediate reply. Gaara hadn't changed at all, he found him all the same, sitting behind his desk, tones of paperwork in front of him, his white and blue clothes on, the same "watch what you're saying" expression on his face, everything was the same.

"Well well, if it isn't a surprise. The Nara. Message from your kingdom, I suppose?" he spoke in his ever-so-calm voice.

"What else could it be?" Shikamaru answered.

"I don't know, maybe a visit at my sister's? To convince her to start showing her face at the sun once again?" Gaara stated more of questioned.

"Well, it wasn't on my plans, but if I have your permission, why not?"

"Fine then. Now, to the mesage you were sent to deliver..."

"Aa. A week a go, we were attacked by pirates. We're still fixing the damages and our men are all unable to fight...So we had to request a short period of time, about two or three weeks for them to recover completely. In this time, we require no attacks or battles, and we won't attack either. With what would we, after all? That's my Lady's Dutchess' will; the message I was sent to deliver." Pretty good at his manners and used to talk to people of high society, Shikamaru had a variety of poetic and noble words stored in his mind, and being the genious that he was, he knew EXACTLY where, when and how to put them.

"I see...Pirates, huh? Did you have any great loss?"

"Only a girl, kidnapped. The prince was injured, as well as Hyuuga Neji, but most of the soldiers are alive. The pirates were only after Hyuuga Neji's little cousin, Hyuuga Hanabi. It seemed that their captain didn't want them to cause us much trouble...but well, they did." Shikamaru answered.

"Well, you DO have a loss after all...It seems that they were after the Silver Fog..."

"They mentioned that name as well..And you know it too? What does it mean? Is it some of the hidden secrets of the Hyuuga clan?"

"It's kind of weird, indeed...It's a heritance passed down from mother to daughter, in their bloodline limit, but has nothing to do with that Byakugan of theirs...I do not know more myself, I only heard those from my father. Alright, three weeks, you've got them. Now, since it's a bit late, I suggest you should go pay that visit to my sister, and ask her to put you somewhere for the night...If you don't mind sleeping on the floor, she still uses futon." Oh, Gaara, if you knew what you've just started!

"No, it's alright. What do you want me to tell her?"

"That there are some strange rumors about her not appearing much lately...And change her mind if possible. Temari is really stubborn."Gaara, said, folding some papers he had just signed.

"Aa, I know that well..." the Nara genious nodded.

"Then you leave. Good luck, you'll need it. Though, I've got a feeling she'll listen to you, but I don't know why..."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Gaara." Shikamaru tilted his head.

"..." Gaara raised his invisible brows. "Just leave..."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Eiji! Come on, it's pretty late! You should already be in bed!" A blonde kunoichi yelled.

"Aw mom! A little bit longer, please?" An even more blond kid with sheer green-blue eyes replied.

"It's getting chilly, we've got to get inside, or you'll catch a cold!"

"Hmmmphh..." The boy formed a disapointed expression but complied with his mother's orders. "Will you tell me a story?" he asked, his sea green-blue eyes gliding. "Please?"

"Aah...Alright, you win! Come here." Temari said and caught her son, lifting him in her arms. They got in the small house and walked upstairs, I mean, Temari was walking with the boy in her arms. "Today, I'll not read you one from the books, I will tell you one my mother was telling me as well."

"Yay! Grandma's fairytale! Yippeeee!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm down now, or you'll fell off of my hands."

She walked upstairs and in their room, where Temari placed Eiji on the pretty big futon they together slept on. Temari unburried his pijamas from under the pillows and threw them to him, then put on her nightgown, and waited for him to get them on.

"Nee mom...Why didn't Matsuri-neechan come today? She said we were going to plant flowers!"

"Again? Oh, no my little brat, you and Matsuri will plant flowers again over my dead body!"

"Over your grave mom? Do you plan on commiting suicide or something?" Eiji asked, his head trapped in the hole at his pijamas' shirt's top. "Ugh.."

"Come here you..." Temari hugged him from the head and helped him wear it properly. "Anyway, today Matsuri was busy."

"Oh...Aaa, my fairytale! My fairytale! A--chou!" Eiji sneezed.

"Temari raised an eyebrow. "Achou!" her son sneezed once more.

"Go to bed. Immediately" she said and lied on the futon beside him, and then pulled him down in her embrace. "Sneezing foretells cold. Here." she said and covered both their bodies with the blanket. "Now, on with the story."

"Yay! Grandma's fairytale! Achou!"

"Eiji..." Temari pulled out a tissue from the box near them and put it over his nose."Blow it" And so he did. When he was done, Temari wrapped the tissue in a ball and threw it aside. "Would you sit still for a moment? Stop wrestling with the covers!"

"Aw mom..."

"Eiji! Do you want to listen to the story or not?"

"Yey, yey, I do, ok, ok, I'll stop." Eiji burried himself in his mother's embrace and sat still.

"_Once upon a time, there was a man named Sora(sky) That man had to women, Hi(day) and Yoru(night). After some time, each of his women gave birth to a son_..."

"Like me!"

"Yeah, yeah, like you. _Hi named hers Tanyou(sun) and Yoru hers Tsuki(moon). The two boys grew up together and loved each other so much, that no one could harm or seperate them. But there came a time, when Hi and Yoru became old, greedy and complained about everything, that the two boys fell in love with the same girl, a young woman named Hoshi(star), who had sheer eyes in the color of the sea_--"

"Like mine and yours, ne mom?"

"Aa. _She had also ebony black hair and pale skin, her lips were like rose petals left on the snow. She was so beautiful; she looked kind, innocent and sweet. But deep inside her heart was dark, darker than her hair._ _What neither Tsuki nor Tanyou knew was that the girl they both had fallen for was a powerful witch, who was jealous of their love they had for each other and the strong bound they shared and she wanted to destroy it_."

"_And so she started going out with both boys secretly, sometimes with Tanyou, and others with Tsuki. But one day, when she was walking on the road with Tanyou, they came across Tsuki. The boy wasn't stupid, he immediately understood that the girl was deceiving him all along, but unfortunately, he didn't think that his brother had been deceived as well. He, for the first time, shouted at Tanyou, they both shouted at each other inappropriate words, words sharp that hurt both of them deeper than any blade would. And such was the blindfold of their anger that they picked up broken brances and stones and attacked each other_."

"Aaaw...Baaad giiiirl! Achou!"

_Sneezing again?_ Temari thought to herself. "Ah, yes. _Tsuki lifted a stone and threw it right on Tanyou's forehead, exactly at the second that Tanyou was stabbing him with a branch. They both fell on the ground, on their knees and then face down, laying, blood pouring and pouring, and the witch was standing upon them, laughing like mad and casting her spell of seperation over them. She enclosed each of Tsuki's and Tanyou's souls in spheres and threw them in the air, sent them flying in seperate directions, cursing them to be apart forever, Tsuki to be travelling when it was darkness and Tanyou when it was light._ And they say that that's how Sun and Moon were created. Owari da ne. Time to sleep now."

"Hmph...Bitch." Eiji murmured as he burried himself somewhere between his mother and the pillows.

"WHAT? What was that?" Temari said, surprised.

"The witch mom!" Eiji explained.

"Wh...where did you...Where did you hear that word?" she gasped, eyes wide open.

"Oh, um...The other day...when you had left...I was out at the back garden with Matsuri-neechan and we..heard someone yelling...And he said that word..." her son explained, his big eyes ready to fill with tears.

"Didn't Matsuri tell you that's a bad word?"

"She wouldn't tell me! I asked her what it meant -ACHOU!- and she just said that I should never use it, because it's really bad..."

"It is...It hurts people; girls if you call them so. Don't use it again, Eiji!"

"Ano...I'm confused mom... If it's a bad word, then why did they say it for you?"

"What?..What did they say, Eiji?"

" _'that bitch of our Head...Leaving her house to others to take care of, she certainly knows what she's doing!'_...Is that bad mum?"

"..." Temari was left in awe. In a bad way, she was surprised. What rumor had twisted around her? Had Eiji heard such words referred to her before, more than that time? Her son sneezed again and she averted her gaze from the ceiling, turning it to him. He looked a bit flushed. Her eyes watered.

"Nee mum...It's alright if you can't answer. I won't ask you more. If you said that it's a bad word that hurts people, then they didn't use it well, saying it for you. You're the most wonderful mother of the world!" Eiji said and hugged her, not noticing the unshed tears in his mother's eyes. "I love you so much mum! Oyasuminasai!"

"..." Temari was at a loss for words. She held back the tears, swallowed hard and embraced her son, kissing him on the top of his head. "I love you much too, Eiji. Oyasumi." Was he a bit hot, or it was just her fingers that felt frozen? Her son was fast asleep, but Temari couldn't. She stared at the ceiling, listening to her son's heartbeat and his breathing, thinking of what she had heard. _And why didn't Matsuri mention anything?_ she wondered.

And then the doorbell rang.

One, hesitent time.

Temari's brows furrowed. "That late? Who could be?" she muttered. Careful not to wake him, she placed her son on the futon and covered him with the blanket, then put a hand over his forehead. "He does feel warmer...oh please, let him not be ill..." She placed a kiss on his forehead and went to answer the door.

Outside the house stood Shikamaru, shivering and rubbing his shoulders with his hands.

"Dammit...Troublesome trip...Suna sure is colder than Konoha at night..." he murmured, and then the door opened.

In front of him stood Temari, in the most wonderful appearance he had ever seen her in. Her hair was down, her eyes were gliding, she was wearing a light blue-white nightgown and it so much suited her, better than her usual outfits. He noticed she wasn't wearing slippers, could it be that he had woken her? Her eyes didn't say so, though.

"Uh...Good evening?" he tried to open a conversation.

The look on her face turned immediately from surprised to a sharp death glare.

"What are you doing here?"

"Gaara sent me!" Shikamaru answered, he was afraid of her when she had that look on. He would never forget what she did to Tayuya.

The speed in which her face changed expressions was amazing. In just a few seconds, the death glare had turned into a confused look. "What would Gaara send you to tell me--Wait, wait, what are you doing here in Suna, first of all??"

"I came to deliver a message form Tsunade! And your brother sent me to talk to you about something. Can I come in?"

"Gaara you're dead..." Temari muttered behind her gritted teeth and stepped aside, to make room for him to go inside. "What did he send you to tell me?"

"Well, he says that there are some rumors about you...And I guess that he must have heard only the noble ones."

"Why so?"

"Because if he had heard what I did on my way there, he would have come to check on you himself."

"Huh?" Eiji's words slipped in her mind once again. _Could it...?_ "What do they say?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Well...Some just wonder why you're not appearing much lately, some others assume that you're sick...Some others say you're irresponsible and arrogant and that you're hiding something...But there are also those who saw you when you went out, at the toy store and they have started to wonder whether you've got a child or not..." Shikamaru stopped a bit, shot a glance at her and continued. "...and if you do, when did you bring it in the world and why you're hiding it. Some got pretty close, they assume that you don't know the father. Which is true, from what you've told me."

So it was true. All those different rumors, twisted thoughts of each that came into words and once got out, everyone added what they thought was really happening...Temari brought her hands to her head, unable to put her thoughts into words. She sank deep in the armchair she was sitting, she embraced her knees and hid her head behind them. If Eiji had heard more than what he said he did...

"Am I that worthless?..." Shikamaru heard her whispering. "..What kind of mother am I to you, my son...?"

"Ah...I've got a favor to ask, if you don't mind.."

"What do you want?"

"It's...If you don't want, it's alright...Can I stay here for the night?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, Gaara asked me to. Are all your inns filled?"

"Dunno...We ain't got much, anyway. I guess...As long as you don't mind sleeping on the floor...I guess I still have my old futon somewhere." Temari murmured. "Wait there, I'll go look upstairs."

"Okay." He watched her as she walked, her feet almost barely touching the wooden floor, as she silently made her way to her room. Her hair, even though just reaching her shoulders seemed so...just so right to be there, around her face, matching her eyes. _"Everything on her is perfect..."_ Shikamaru thought to himself as she disappeared in one of the rooms upstairs.

"And I forgot to bring my yukata...Hmmph. Tough luck. Fishnets again, Nara boy.." Shikamaru muttered to himself.

"Oi!" Temari's voice pulled him out in reality. "Hey, mr.Crybaby, are you listening?"

When had she come down again? And when had she walked up to him again?

"Eh, of course I do! What's it?"

"I'm sure you haven't brought your pijamas or yukata, or whatever you have on when you're sleeping, so I brought you one of those that used to be my dad's. Here. The futon and the pillow are a bit worn out, I was pretty much of a good sleeper back then, but the covers are alright." Temari placed everything next to him and walked towards the armchairs in her living room. She pushed the two to the wall and removed the low table from the center of the room. She lifted the four big pillows and stuffed them in a corner next to the table. "Here. Now there's enough space for you to sleep" She unfolded the futon and stretched it over the floor, then put the pillow on it. She carried the blankets and let them on the lower half of the futon, then put next to the pillow her father's folded yukata. "If you get cold at night, there are two more blankets. You'll probably need them." she said, and walked up to him again, the passed him. "Good night"

As she was walking next to him, Shikamaru caught her hand

"What?" Temari turned to face him.

"There are some things that you have to tell me..." He looked pretty serious, and Temari was surprised.

"It's late, Shikamaru. Eiji might be ill, and I'm dead tired. Can't it wait until tomorow?" Temari asked, her hand still prisoned in his fingers.

"No, it can't. I heard some things, back in Konoha...And they were NOT rumors. Did you know that Itachi raped Sakura? And she has a son. The child looks up to his father, and wants to avenge him."

"..A-And how exactly am I related?" Itachi. His name burned her memory, it hurt her like a knife stabbing her on the back.

"Well, the kid doesn't know his mother is Sakura...Cause he somehow knows Itachi raped two women, a girl from Konoha...And a girl from Suna." Shikamaru stopped and looked at her, then continued. "He doesn't know his age, his mother, the time that passed between the two violations...But he knows that, whoever his mother is, she killed his father. And that's why he attacks people from only Konoha and Suna."

The next time he looked at her, she was terrified. She had brought her free hand to her shoulder, and her eyes were fixed on the floor. Her lips were trembling and he could tell that she was on the edge, ready to fall and cry, but he _had _to learn. He _had _to know, so to be able to help her rid of whatever it was that thing in her memories that hurt her.

"Sakura has been lectured by Tsunade for something, and I just happened--"

"Happened"

"--happened to be there. And Sakura re-admitted to Tsunade that her son comes from her violation by Itachi, and when they started to talk about why did the kid attack people from both our Kingdoms, Sakura...kinda 'revealed', that Itachi has raped you as well...Is that true, Temari?" Shikamaru asked, now catching her other hand as well. "Look at me."

But she couldn't. She was pretty sure that he had already found out the truth himself, why was he tormenting her more now? She couldn't do what he was asking her to, she couldn't speak, she couldn't move.

"Answer me, Temari. Is it true? Because if it is, then I can pretty well think of Eiji's age, his birthday, and when he was born, and I can tell you why you don't know who his father is. And I can now understand why you left like that back then. Is it true? Is it true, what Sakura said?" He lifted her chin and looked at her, deep in the eyes. "Please, please, answer me."

"Yes"

Shikamaru sighed. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell anyone? Someone, someone could have helped you, I could have helped you!"

"Really? How exactly could I have told ANYONE about it? And who to tell it first? You, Gaara, Kankurou, who? If I told Gaara, hw would have killed me, saying it was my fault because of my attitude towards men...And Kankurou, reasoning it the same, even though he always supports me, he wouldn't this time. Serves me right, they would say. They wouldn't even believe me, probably!"

"And what about me? What was I for you? Just a love-toy?"

"Don't speak like that!"

"Why? Is it the truth that you can't face?"

"No!"

"Then what?"

"I knew that you were going to act like that...And you'd want to chase him down, to punish him, no?"

"It would be troublesome, but I would have done it, for you!"

"That's what I was trying to avoid!"

"Me avenging you?"

"The troublesome part. Where he would have killed you. And it would be all because of me. And I would have to bear with this pain as well. I didn't want that to happen, I didn't want to have to mourn for a loss greater than any other in my life! I didn't want it to happen, so I left. I wanted to protect you." Temari had lowered her head again, looking at the floor. Deep inside her, she knew that the way she had tried to express her reasons and felings...Turned out to be like she did everything for herself. It seemed selfish. But he didn't seem to notice.

"..." Shikamaru scratched his head, troubled. He didn't know Temari felt that way. "...And what about Eiji?"

"What about him?"

"Do you think it's right for the kid to live without a father? Especially now that those rumors about you stretch even more."

"But I DON'T KNOW the father! And besides, I didn't know I was pregnant only after I left Konoha!" That was a lie, but Shikamaru didn't have to know the whole thing. Indeed, she had no clue who Eiji's father was, but Shikamaru didn't have to know Temari left Konoha just after she understood she was pregnant. He didn't have to know the urevealed details of the past events. It hurt her to een think of them, she would't _talk_ about them!

"You're really troublesome, do you know?"

"If I am that troublesome, then why are you still here? Come on, go back to your fiancee, she must be waiting for you!"

"Ew! Don't scare me like that!"

"Hmph."

"And I don't go back because I love you, and I wanted to settle the things between us. To know what's going on. We never really broke apart, am I wrong?"

"It was over the moment I stepped out of those gates."

"No, it was not. It's not over. There's still something. And don't tell me no." He had stepped closer to her now, she couls see his feet.

"Don't even think of it. Just go to sleep. And be grateful that I let you sleep in my house after everything we've said tonight." Temari murmured and stood, ready to go upstairs to check on her son and sleep. But she felt his hands covering her shoulders and he dragged her, turned her to face him. He looked her in the eyes, as if he was trying to figure out everything that she didn't tell him in their sea-colored depths. When had his gaze become so strong? He was detecting all her feelings so clearly, that Temari was afraid. She averted her gaze of his, she couldn't stand it more. She tried to free her arms, but he grabbed her right wrist as well and pulled her in his embrace.

"Nothing is over. Nothing we can't save even now. And I don't mind being Eiji's step father, if he really is Itachi's."

The words she couldn't find to say, the thoughts, the feelings, everything flooded in her eyes and he could see it. He looked down at her and kissed her, like he did back then, like nothing had happened, like those three years of uncertainity and pain had never passed. And this time, Temari didn't hold back. But she didn't respond either. The both knew that he was well aware of how much she wanted them to go back together, but she couldn't set aside her pride. And Temari had hurt herself as well when she had left, and she wanted things to go back like they were three years ago no matter what, more than anything else. But she was still afraid to take that tiny step forward. He seemed to know and she was scared of that.

He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the futon _**(A/N:** Referrence? Rurouni Kenshin, episode 66_ she had prepared for him, never breaking the kiss. The next second they were laying, she below, he on top, ridding both of the clothes. And she didn't keep her eyes open, she just felt him sliding her nightgown down her shoulders. The last thing she knew, he was there, above her, like all those times, like nothing had happened, just for her, with her, once again, completely uncaring of what would happen if his family or her brothers found out. She gave him a tight hug, she wanted to hold on to the moment, and he kissed her, once again, he was parting her legs, everything was so like the past she wanted to erase, and he was in her, and Temari cried, because she knew, she had thought of what would happen if anyone found out. And it wasn't his fault, it was all hers, and she didn't want him to suffer from her own foolisness.

But even though, Shikamaru knew. And he felt her tears. But he didn't hold back. He kissed her eyes, wiping them all away with his lips as he fondled her hair. "Nothing will ever again be the same, but don't worry. I'll be there, I won't leave you alone." And the embrace was tight, bone-breaking, but she didn;t want to let go. "I love you.." he whispered. "I love you, I don't want Ino, I love you", and she knew it was true.

"Please...Please make it all go away" _**(A/N:** Olivia inspi' Reira, Winter Sleep From NANA**:-)**_ Her voice sounded like she hadn't used it for years. Her hands moved on his back, following the line of his spine and his embrace was more than comforting.

"Please come back..." he whispered, his lips next to her ear, his breath warming up the back of her neck.

What was he asking for? How could she leave Suna, her kingdom, her people, her brothers...How could she folow him off to Konoha, the kingdom her people were at war with?

"I can't..."

And the rest was lost in the wind, drown by his kiss that sealed her lips, and their thoughts flied away as the room was filled with the feelings they both hid and the words that were left unspoken.

They slept together, embraced, but even though, as always, Shikamaru had a silent and peaceful sleep, Temari didn't. How much did they sleep? Three hours? She had five nightmares and couldn't find any peace at all, any sleep after them. Her mind ran off to Eiji, and if Shikamaru wasn't still over her, with the least noise from upstairs she would have run to her son.

Sometime after her last nightmare, he woke up, and after comforting her for her worries, he tried to pull her in the game for the second time.

"It was..They were just nightmares. Bad dreams. Not happening, ne?"

"Yeah..But..the last one was so real.." She whispered and crawled even closer to him.

"I told you I'm here. I won't let it happen, no matter how real it looks. It's a dream after all."

"And if it happens?"

"It won't. It won't. And even if it did, I would protect you."

"Yeah..Protect me from the Boogie-man, you would definitely scare him with that yawn of yours..."

"That's one of my killing lazy-tools."

"One of.."

"The many"

"And why do I know them as only..Lazy ones?" she asked playfully as he twisted some strands of her hair around his fingers.

"I don't know...Why indeed?" he answered and kissed her, lowering to the line of her chin, then her neck, and after a small moment, he reached for her collarbone. Temari sighed and closed her eyes.

_"..M-mom.."_

_What was that? Could it be Eiji?_ Temari thought, but she wasn;t sure if it really was her son, or just her imagination. Shika,aru went on and he was driving her off again, she couldn't concentrate.

_"N..not my mom...Let go.."_

_And that? It.._ And again, she tried to shake him off. "Oi...stop it" She was trying to listen, but again, it was not so like her son's voice, what could that be?

"Eh? Why?" He raised his head and looked at her, his loosened hair falling in his eyes.

"I thought I heard..." She muttered, but she couldn't continue. He dived and pulled her head in his hands, his lips covering hers. And Temari lost control again. But...

_"Mum!"_

But at that time, when she was about to give in again, Temari felt a cold chill inside, and she knew it wasn't because she was naked.

_"MUM!"_

Someone was coughing upstairs.

_"NO! MUM!"_

Someone was crying and calling her, and that someone could be no other than...

"Eiji!" Temari said, suddenly so worried that, in her attempt to get up quickly, she threw Shikamaru aside. She got dressed in less than a second and ran upstairs.

"Temari!" Shikamaru called, but she didn't turn to him.

She ran up and the stariway never again had seemd such a burdain to climb up for her, Eiji was coughing and crying and calling her, and what has she been doing?

"What kind of mother am I?" she whispered to herself as she entered her room. "Eiji...", and she walked up to him, to see him lay face down, burried in his pillow so to drown the sound of his coughing, his tiny fists grabbing hard on the futon, the pillow had some wide stains of sweat and tears and... "Oh no...Eiji.." Temari lifted her son from the futon and turned him in her embrace to look at him.

"Mum..." the boy muttered silently. "Don't touch my mum..."

He was shivering and coughing, he wa all sweaty and the pillow, as well as his pijamas were stained by not only tears and sweat, but also, the liquid form of what he had had for dinner that night. Temari stood and lifted him, and got out of her room. She rushed to the bathroom and even though she passed from where she had left Shikamaru, she didn't even throw a glance at him.

"Eiji.." Her son was still asleep, and wrestling with his invisible enemy. "Eiji, wake up...Wake up, aisuru." It felt strange to use these words for him, that tone, she shook him slightly. "Eiji please wake up..."

After a few tries, he finally opened his eyes. Slowly, and he seemed to be in pain. He had red spots under his eyes and he was shivering even more. "M..mom?"

Cough cough.

"I'm here Eiji, I'm here...How do you feel?" Temari softly placed him on the wooden floor and helped him take off his pijamas slowly, and then his underwear.

Cough cough.

Cough cough.

"My..head spins...And I...I'm cold. Is it winter already, mum?" Eiji asked, his eyes blurry.

"No, not even summer yet, sweetheart..." Temari thought that she should keep herself up right, Eiji...it wouldn't do him much good to see his mother losing her composure. But she couldn't help it, seeing her little boy like that hurt her. He tripped as he walked towards the tub.

"Nee mum...If it's not summer, why is everything so hot? And I feel cold..." he coughed again and Temari dived one finger in the water. Luckily, it was still warm enough. Eiji climbed clumsily and let himself in, under the warm water.

"Is it better now?" Temari asked as she put his dirty clothes in one basing, among with some others. She saw him diving his head in until heas mouth was under the surface and nod to her, as he blew his breath underwater and created bubbles.

"I'm ill, ne mum?" He murmured as he touched each bubble with the tip of his forefinger, watching them as others floated and sme others were blown away. "I caught that cold you were telling me, eh?"

"Seems like it...Temari answered and came closer, touched his forehead with her lips. "You've got a fever..."

"A high one, eh mum? I can feel it..." Eiji eyes watered, and it was not because of him taking a bath. He coughed again and embraced his knees, touching them with his forehead. "I'm sorry mum...I'm so sorry..." he sniffed, a silent tear hitting the suface of the water.

"W...Why?" Temari's eyes were wide open as she carefully put a cool wet towel over his forehead.

"I'm a bad boy...I didn't listen to you...I'm sorry that I trouble you mum..."

For the millionth time that day, Temari was speechless.

"No Eiji, no...It's not your fault..I...I should have warned you earlier, don't worry though. I won't let you like this for long. We'll fight it together, ne? I'll go get you a change now, ne? Don't get out of it.

"She left the bathroom and headed for her bedroom again. As she walked, she threw a glance at Shikamaru. He had put almost all his clothes on and had his back at her.

"H..How is he?" She heard him asking but didn't answer. What she had in mind as a reaply was not what she wanted to saym and it would hurt both of them if she let it out. She entered her room and got another pair of Eiji's pijamas, a big towel and clear underwear, and walked back to her son again.

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

**Okay now, please read that as well. PLease. That chapter is 19 A4 pages long. It took me a week not to handwrite it, to TYPE it. **

**I need a break, and I will take it. I have to finish the corrections of my book, cause I will have it published any week now, within September or in the first days of October. So please be patient with me. I have some deadlines ahead, and whoever is a member of LiveJournal's fanfiction communities gets me. I have claimed the Gaara X Matsuri pairing on the 30kisses community, and my deadline for the first themed chapter is on the 1rst of September, so I have to take a break from this fanfic.**

**Don't worry though. I will not leave it. I just need to do some other things first. It truly IS hard to be an official author, and not only a FANfiction one. Please bear with me? ; **

**I would HIGHLY appreciate it if you left reviews on that one, it took me HELL to write it and bring it out properly to you. Sorry if I had delayed it.**

**I've got my manga to draw as well...And the doujin based on this story, I started it. When I will post it on my account on deviantart, I will let you all know. **

**That's all for now. Thanks for supporting me so far, and I hope you'll contninue.**

**I will reply ALL of the reviews. I swear it. So please be kind and send some...ne?**


	19. Secrets

**Hey everyone! I won't babble this time, because I want you all to be VERY careful through this chappie. It becomes more dark, more ceepy and...WOOO, all the good things and mystery, YESH! We're getting to one of the main bodies of this story! Yosh! Just go on **

**I do not own Naruto**

* * *

"Mommy..." Eiji whispered once he saw his mother returning. He was't shivering anymore, but he still was coughing.

"Hey...Any changes?" Temari asked softly as she helped him stand and wrapped him in the big towel. "You don't shake anymore"

The kid looked up to her, a weak smile on his face. He was flushed, the reddish color shading the skin on his cheekboes, right under the eyes that he was weilding blue. Temari touched his forehead with her lips, but couldn't feel any difference. "But come now, time to go to bed. I won't leave this time. I promise." She took the towel and folded it, and as Eiji gotdressed, she cleaned the floor of he few drops of water that had fallen.

"Mum...Where were you?" the blond boy spoke again as Temari lifted him in her embrace. "You were here, right? You weren't in danger?"

She froze at the beginning of the sentence, but the answer that came out of her mouth was honest. "I was...keeping some company to that old friend of mine. He came to deliver a message from his kingdom, and your unc--eer, the king told him to stay here for the night.."

"Temari!" The voice echoed as she was about to walk upstairs.

She froze again for the millionth time that day and turned to face Shikamaru, he was standing, dressed luckily, hands in his pockets.

"I want to ask you a question."

"I won't lisen. Just go to sleep, just see what happened the last time you did!" Temari almost shouted, enraged. She turned her eyes and focused on her son and the stairs as she started going up.

"So you won't tell me...What were thse black and red scars on your back? You didn't have those three years ago." Shikamaru said, raising his voice just a bit, on purpose.

"Nothing. Your imagination. You misunderstood shadow in the darkness." She answered behind clenched teeth_. So he noticed..Dammit, how could I let ths happen? Why did I allow him to crash into my life for the second time? Why am I always so stupid, SO stupid_?! Temari thought to herself but she kept on going upstairs, ingnoring him. The scars on her back were her deepest secret and she didn't intend to reveal it, it wasn't only hers. She would let it reveal in no way. "The Desert Rose will only bloom when its time has arrived...And oly if given the order to." she whispered, mouthing the verse so silently that she herself wasn't sure whether she said or thought it.

"My imagination. Are you sure? That I, especially I misunderstand _shadows_?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't want to se the Temari that killed Tayuya, go to sleep! Before I put you myself!"

"..." For a genious, he wasn't fast enough to come up with a proper reply.So she found the time and went upstairs, annoyed to to the core with him.

"...I mean come on, why did he even..." she mumbled as they were going upstairs.

"If he annoys you so much, then why did you let him sleep here mum?" Eiji asked, ceasing her from talking to herself.

"Eh? But...We're best friends...And he thinks I am way troublesome..."

"And it doesn't bother you?"

"I think he's annoying, and besides, everyhing for him is troublesome! But he's a genious, anyway..."

"That dumpface?"

"He may look dump, but he's a super genious, Eiji. His IQ exceeds 200!"

"Exceeds? Hm..He must have been a petty bright student.."

"Actually, no." Temari mumbled as she put him on the futon. "He...It might sound funny, but his grades were almost the lowest. He told me...And his teachers were saying that he was so bored that he even found it troublesome to pick up his pencil to answer the questionson the school tests..." She cam again next to her son, with two clean pillows in her embrace, replacing the stained ones.

"And the Desert Rose? And...And those marks on your back? Why didn't you tell him?" Eiji asked, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as hi moher lied next to him.

"Just because it happened for you to know it doesn't mean that he too can learn."

"But Obaa-san and Matsuri-nee-chan know..."

"Eiji this is a secret among some certain females of Suna, including Chiyo-sama, Matsuri and me. The only males that are allowed to know are only those very close related to one of us, and only under certain circumstances. Matsuri knows that you know, same with Chiyo-sama, and we've agreed that no one else nees to know, unless the time to reveal it comes."

"And the Black Moon?"

"That's Matsuri's secret. I myself don't know much about it. I received the heritance of the Desert Rose from my own mother, and I was supposed to keep it a secret. But you eventually found out, and unless you speak of it, it's safe."

"This means you trust me?" Eiji's big blue eyes glided in the darkness.

"Sure I do. But you've heard enough stories for tonght. And it's way late."

"Almost dawn, ne?"

"And that's why we'll does off immediately."

"Sleep tight mum!"

"Same to you.." Temari whispered and kissed his forehead. He was still warm, but at least he wasn't coughing anymore. Temari closed her eyes, but couldn't find any sleep. The image of the moon, almost full, came to her mind. She would have to leave again soon, and this time, she would have to take Matsuri with her.

She looked up at the ceiling. The window was left open and she could detect clouds travelling on the night sky, accompanying the moon's lonely wandering.

"I have to drag myself outta this..." she sighed and embraced Eiji, in her final attempt to find some sleep.

Which succeded.

- - - - - - - -

A dark haired figure, slim and tall made its appearance at the entrance of an aged cave, carved onto the rough rocks of one side of the forest surrounding the kingdom of Konoha. It jumped deep in the cave and landed on the hees, then started walking in a steady pace. The footsteps echoed on the walls and the reflection of the cloak-dressed figure mirroized itself on the thousants of stalagmites and stalactites. Small droplets of water dripped down slowly, creating ponds on the walking surface.

But the person who walked didn't seem to be affected by any of these. His clothes were stained with mud and blood, his sword, unseathed, was being dragged on the ground, leaving a straight line carved on as he walked. Even though it was dark and the only little light was coming from behind him, he didn't seem t bother. Hs eyes were fixed on the ground, as if he knew the path by heart.

And then he reached his dead end. A wall standing in front of him and his eyes changing, dark green altering into something that reflected the only thing he felt vivid inside him; his blood. Crimson took over emerald and the eyes pierced through the stone, leading the hand to touch one wrinkle on the caramel veins that ran through the rock. He touched it with his ingertip, tapping the same point seven times. Then the arm that had extended from the bdy was once against folded, hidden in the dak purple that covered the person's shoulders.

And then the sound was heard.

A constant sound. Asound different from that of his blade scratching against theground, different from that of the saline water drops dripping down from the stalactites, different from that of feet silently takin steps on this kind of ground. And then rock brushed against rock, and dust lifted, and the person took five steps forward. And then stone fell onto stone, shielding the path from which he had returned to the place that seemed to be this for him to call his home.

"You're late, kid."

A voice, soft, and the whisper slow, making the statement seem fair eonugh,that it could mislead you and think it belonged to a sensitive person.

"I am sorry to have disappointed you..." the voice childish, yet dark and cold; emotionless.

"This time as well."

"I am as quick as my powers allow me to be."

"Don't excuse. You said you're sorry--"

"Not really."

"..And thus I shal treat you." The other fandom, a figure clung to the shadows, making the scene even more creepy. The fir's blaze from the fw candles that were on some of the walls fell on the person that had just arrived. "Take pff that hood when you're talking to me!" It was not a statement. It was an order.

A hand extended from the insides of the cloak and was brought to the top of the head, slender fingers wrappingaround hard fabric, plling it back. A breeze coming out of nowhere, shaking the black strands that fell on the [erson's face. Sharp green eyes gazed into the darkest corner, the small flames each candle held reflectig in the sheer orbs, chin held up strong, and the face angelic. A chuckle escaped the hidden person's lips and fingers tapped onto rock.

"What news do you bring me?"

"I've discovered the secret behind the Silver Fog."

* * *

**YOSH! Done! Gotcha all, didn't I? Can you guess who this kid is? Aw, come on, it's pretty easy. Black hair, green eyes that turn into crimosn...What else do you need? Heeheeehee! Sorry tis is kinda small, in the beginning I planned it only as a filler chapter, but I will consider it as a real one! Just wait to the next one, I'LL SEE your reactions THEN! That next is SOOOOO interesting, I promise!**

**Thanks for anyone who reviewd the previous ones! Thanks in advance for those who will review now!**

**See ya!**


	20. Secrets II

**Hey there. School started again today...**

**What can I say? It was awful...We choose some lessons on ourselves and which Direction we want to follow, that with Ancient Greek, Literaure, Latin and French, that of Ancient Greek, Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology, or that of Computers, Maths and Physics? Guess What I chose. I wan to be a translator and interpretr, so I hose the first. It is called Theoritiki. And apart from the first four hours that wil be those lessons of the Direction, there are three hours next that we have General Education, just like the one we had on junior high. **

**Well, I dont yet know my class of Theoritiki, because it's gonna be different, but IF in the General Education class I am with those I was put today...My two last years in senior high are gonna be pretty tough. ALL the girls there are obsessed with finding a boygriend, they're oh the thin and slender ones. the great students, those who love going out and...As for the boys...Let me just put it lightly. Morons. Total morons. They're ALL the same ones I was with three yars in junior high, and I thought that once I stepped into senior high, I would get rid of them. HAH! Now, I did. Whatever I said, they wre teasing me. Whenever I opened my mouth to answer the teachers' questions about myself and such, well...**

**I feel horribly. And thus is the chapter horrible. I woke up on 4 am nervous as I was, for my first day at school after three months...And wrote that. Sorry that it is small. I feel really bad. I have a huge headache and my shoulders and back hurt from all those tones of books I had to carry home...And the road which takes me school is half an hour walking far from my house. Imagine me? I slept a 14:00 and woke up just now, that is 20:27. I didnt even eat lunch. **

**Thats my bad luck. I hate hose guys. I hate it! Seriously. I wanted to cry all day again. And...The teased me because I was studying my japanese in the meantime until they give us books, because I had taken with me one folder with my naruto fanarts and some other ones with printed screenshots; well, I always carry those with me! Why tease me now? Back then, I was already obsessed with anime and I carried school printed screenshots of Rurouni Kenshin, YuGiOh and Digimon! Why did it have to happen now? They're all the same scumbags I graduated junior high with.**

**Forget it. I've babbled too much.**

**Note: My arms are barely moving from all those boks I carried today, so forgive me any typing mistakes.**

* * *

"The Silver Fog?...Impessive. Very impressive, kid." The voice that seemed to belong to his superior spoke.

"Wasn't that my task? I completed it as I was told." The kid's eyes flew to the corner where his master lurked into the darkness. He had seen his face once, andsince then, detested and loathed it.

"Very well. You're now so obedient that I might actually reconsider..And really revive your beloved father, in the end." The master used a tone that would sure have lured one into the verbal trap, but not this certain one.

"Don't use your tricks on me! Who do you think you;re talking to? I am an Uchiha! And in my quest to find informatio for the task you gave me, I also learned tha you alwayshad a pretty tough luck with the Uchihas...And that one is still alive!" Although he knew very well how to hide his feelings, the hope and longning to see his father were obvious in the tone he held now.

"Don't fool yourself kid. The only Uchiha that is alive aside you is your uncle. And although when you see him, he doesnt look like it, he can be; he IS stronger than me. And trust me, if he knew you're his brother's child, he'd wish to kill you. He ad sworn a pledge upon your granparetns grave, to kill your father. He became sttrong and lived up to fullfill ths pledge...But a little lady ruined his plan."

"That woman..." The kid's eyes narrowed. Why did everyone wish to kill his father? Why did they have to have had their wish granted? And what about him?

"You hate her, right? You mother--"

"DON'T!" He exploaded. "Don't ever call her that! She's a monster!"

"If you knew what your father had done in his life you'd knew that he's far more the monster thn your mother will ever be." The voice in the darkness spoke and laughed, the kid did have some nerve after all.

"I don't care what you say! She killed my father! She abandoned me! What kind of mother would leave her own child?"

But he didnt know that it really, really WASN'T his mother's decision to leave him.

"And after all those that I've done for you, you STILL havent found the chance to tell me who she is!"

"Everything in their time, kid. Yo'll complete some more tasks, and then you'll have to prepare yourself for what will be revealed to you."

"Hn." The kid chuckled. "The Silver Fog is both a secret of the Hyuuga clan and some myterious "organisation" that is under one leader but has no name. In the Hyuga clan, the Fog is passed down through whole generations of females, going from mother to daughter. It is to be found in either the main or the side branch. It will only come if the female who receives it is the head of either the main or the side branch, even unofficially. The previous Silver Fog in the Hyuuga clan was Hyuuga Hinata, the main branch family's heiress. But since she gone missing, after she was marked dead, the secret was somehow passed down to the current heiress of the main branch family, Hyuuga Hanabi. This one as only recently taken, probably hostage, from he kingdom of Konoha by a bunch of pirates, whose leader seems to know about the secret the little girl holds."

"So, it has nothin to do with the Bloodline limits, as I've heard...And who would have thought..."

"However, there is more. This "organisation" has an Unknown leader and four more members, carrying the following names. he Desert Rose, which is a secret among the females of the Sand kingdom, the Golden Coud, which is a secret of a clan with only one survivor and no known family name, the Black Moon, which again has only one survivor and is a secret among the females of a Sand's clan with no name, and the Razor Iris, which, strangly enough, seems to be a secret of a Leaf's clan females...The name is Haruno, but this certain one didn't have much to know about. The Desert Rose is passed down from mother to daughter and only by chance is a male member of the family allowed to know. And if indeed someone finds out, they seem to believe that they either have to kill him, or have him swear to not tell and protect the secret with his life. The previous Desert Rose was Sandaime Kazekage's wife, the woman who gave birth to the child in which the Shukaku was sealed. Most likely, the current one is her older daughter, the Wind Mistress, Sabaku no Temari."

"Most likely...Our little Kaze no Ookami...Who would have imagined a force similar to that of te Silvr Fog lies in Sunagakure as well..."

"The Golden Cloud has one successor. Her mother died when she was young, but since noone ever one family name of her, their strength and power was considered weak and faded. However, tis successor, even though no one knows who she is, seems to be pretty strong and willing to make it up for her title. She lived with her father, until three years ag, when he was killed."

"That could be anyone. Don't you have more?"

"I told you, the Golden Cloud is considered weak and thus no on cared to gather information on her. There's something that I discoverd myself, on my way here. The Cloud ives somewhere in this forest."

"_'Somewhere in this forest'_ he says! Do you know how big this forest is?"

"Do you really think you need to ask _ME_ this question?"

"Duh...Go on."

"The Black Moon is similar to this. The previous one was murdered with her husband, and so her only daughter inherited the title automatically, even though she didn't know until only months ago. She seems tolive at the outskirts of the Sand kingdom, but just because she is an orphan and her mothr had no family name, at leastnot stanted, she is also considered wek and it washard to learn even those few I did."

"Another forcein Sunagakure...They're spreading..."

"It seemsthey are. Well, the last one, the Razor Iris, is pretty complicated. The previous was Harno Sakura's mother, so the current is her. However, the husband of the previous Iris is not the father orth current, though no one but the previous knows who really is. It seems that is is someone related to or ostracised from the Uchiha clan, because the very first Iris was an Uchiha. But after so many years, the mixing with the common mortals brought the Razor Iris to be a secret of the Haruno Clan. And just because I imagined you'd ask this..." the dark haired kid raised his hand to prevent his master from interrupting him, his green eyes knowing every move the other did, even hidden in the darkness."I made a llittle research of my own. Te last Uchiha female that held the title of the Razor Iris was Uchiha Obito's grandmother. Apart from Obito's father, who was an Uchiha, she had another kid, one daughter, whose father was one of the servants of the Haruno Clan. As you must already know, the Haruno clan was a royal family, until one day, when it suddenly crumbled and minimized. Well, from that servant's daughter, the tittle of the Iris was passed down to this girl, just because her mothernever accepted her as an Uchiha. She was treated like trash because of her mixed origin, but still, she managed to worm her way up. After many years, she had finally done it, and the next one to take the title was her great-granddaughter. She herself had one son, and he in turn had two sons. One of those was lucky enough to have a daughter, and that was the one to inherit the Iris. She was lucky enough that her great grandmother as still alive when she wasborn. When the last Uchiha Iris died, Obito's grandmother, that girl,turned 20, married someone of the Haruno clan. And that girl was Haruno Sakura's mother."

"So there was a connection between the two clans."

"Yes, but you can no more say they are relatives, since the all were paired up with servants of either clan, and not members of the family. The title was very complicatedly pased down."

"Hmm...You've somehow learned quite a bunch, Taito." It was the first time in months his master called him by his name. Well done."

"There's still more. About their leader."

"Still more? You amaze me. Go on."

"It's a male who has the nickname Tsuki. There seems to somehow be ot a name he had, he either forgot it or pretends to have no real name. Only thats's sure about him. And his month..." Taito raised his head and looked above, high above, to an opening from which the night sky was to be seen, "...on the full moon, they are gathering. The place is unknown, and so is the purpose. But if I follow one, I can easily found out everything."

"Hmph. You've wored it well. Go now. There are no more tasks forthe time. Rest untill the full moon. And then you'll take action."

Taito smirked and turned around, not bowing his head as he used to do. Even in this seveth year of his life, he already knew when and how to set his priorities and how to play a game like this. He walked and reached a hole on the walls of the cave, a big one, just as it needed for him to be able to enter the tunel behind it.

And when he crossed it, he was there.

In his room.

Under the river.

Another day had passed. Another day that brought him closer to his purpose. Just a few more weeks to go, and he would probably learn what he waited all his life to. He would avenge his father.

* * *

**Weoo...Finally, I finished it. Please forgive me for the many many many things that dont exist in the manga and anime and I just got out of my mind, but this is supposed to be an Alternative Universe fanfic. And just in case, NO, Sasuke and Sakura are NOT related. Wait for more in the next chapter.**

**o.o **

**o.O**

**O.O**

**91 reviews? Wow guys, you're the best! Thanks! I just notice I have so many...**

**I can't feel happy with eve the fact that I'm nearing 100 reviews...I must be pretty disapointed from the way they treated me today...**


	21. Growing Closer

**Hey buddies! Sorry for taking so long to update, I was MADLY occupied with my 30kisses -which have deadlines- and school, which takes over most of my time, so I...**

**Dun think I forgot how to write, ne?**

**ALL this chappie was written while at school, in the breaks between the lessons. And just so you know, the NaruSaku part is NOT a couple-ish part. I hate NaruSaku as a pairing, and besides, this is a NaruHina and SasuSaku fic, among the rest.**

**Number of A4 pages? 13. **

**jenny-r's date of birth on June. Akylina's account...her lucky number.**

**I hope yu like**

**I dun own Naruto.**

* * *

Again, again, once again. Troubled by nightmares, Konohagakure's prince, Uchiha Sasuke sat up in his cold bed. He looked around, the hallow shadows that fell into his room, darkness everywhere, the only source of light being the wide open window that was so tall to reach the ceiling, the dark red curtain that were hanging parted, leaving the bluish light of the moon fall in with nothing standing in its way. He shook his head and his dark bangs fell in his eyes, hiding the obsidian orbs behind the prince's ebony strands.

Once again, after so many years he had seen it again. It came in his dream and he saw it. The silence. The cold. The darkness. Blood everywhere. The sound of the blade diving into flesh. Blood dripping. Bodies on the floor. And he weak. He is weak and panicked. He cannot do a thing. He s so small, so young and so afraid. His eyes are wide open with fear, he pleads, he cries, he calls their names, but they don't answer. The don't hear him. They can't.

"And then she says forget about revenge..." Sasuke murmured. How can he forget? His brother killed them. The massacre ruined and marked his life with an indellible scar. And he would never get over this feeling the witness of if his left inside him. Sorrow. Emptiness. Cold. Freezing cold that was enough to keep him from falling, cease him from crying and stop him from failing. He became incredibly strong and lived up until now to do what he was meant to.

"How can I forget?" Fingers wrapping around fabric, fists grabbing tight hold of the silky sheets, teeth clencched and his heartbeat bumping. It drives him crazy, but he cannot throw it away; he doesn't want to. "How can I forget what he did? HOW the hell am I supposed to survive in the world he left for me? How else?!" He grabbed his head and closed his eyes, tightly, so tight, he cannot forget.

_"Brother?!"_

A heartbeat.

_"Brother, what's going on?"_

A scared voice, trembling.

_"Brother, stop!"_

A whisper.

_"Brother!"_

A breath.

_"Father! Mother! NO!"_

A cry.

A scream. A life ruined. Sasuke the child is dead.

"I will no more be weak. I will find you. I will kill you with my bare hands I swore it and I'll do it Just wait."

The morning found her wandering around the streets of Konoha. The breeze blew through her hair, it was a bit cold, but she didn't seem to mind. She found her feet taking her to the house of a certain someone, a certain friend. Even though there was already three months since she had came back, he seemed to be the only one who hadn't noticed. She had missed him, a bit more than her other friends. A bit more, but still, less than _him_. Less than Sasuke.

She reached the aging building and walked up the stairs, to reach the lone room where the blond fox-boy lived. Once she stepped right in front of his door, she looked around at the small balcony, still not deciding to raise her hand to knock.

"Quite the decisive person you are, ne Sakura?" he Inner self mocked her.

"I guess I'm doing my best to keep up!" Sakura murmured. But even this little convo with Inner Sakura did the small bit of its job, and motivated her. Her arm extended from her body and her fingers gently tapped on the wooden door.

"Coming!" A loud reaply came from the inside and she smiled. He obviously hadn't changed at all.

Although, what she would see, the one she was going to face, the words she was going to say still frightened her. Away for so long, so long...How is he going to react now? And the door opened.

The blond's bangs fell in his face, his forehead protector probably left somewhere inside. His deep blue eyes were wide open in surprise, awe consuming him, his jaw dropped at the sight of the pink-haired blossom in front of him.

"S...Sakura-chan??"

"Hey Naruto..."

"Sakura-chan..." The fox-boy still couldn't believe what was laid in front of his very eyes.

"It's been three months since I came back and...You didn't seem to notice, so...Can I come in?"

"SAAAAKURA-CHAAAAAAN! YOU CAME BACK! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Uh...I'm glad to see you too, Naruto...But there's no need to shout...?"

"Uuuh, yeah..Come in! Why haven't you told me before?" Naruto contunued, still loudly.

"Well, since it's three months...I thought you knew, and you just didn't want to see me in your eyes." Sakura mumbled hesitently.

"Whaaaat?" Naruto's jaw dropped to the floor. "Why would I even think like that, Sakura-chan? You're a friend that I thought I lost and I missed you! And I'm really, really, really glad that you came back!" The blond's smile had reached his ears, and his eyes were gleaming with happiness like the surface of the sea when the sun hit sit. Sakura simled at him too, putting her greatest efforts to keep her composure and tell Naruto everything. She would either start herself, or he would ask, sooner or later.

"Naruto, I--"

"So, Sakura-chan, where were you? What have you been doing all these three years?"

And now that she had just thought of it!

"Well...First of all, I killed Uchiha Itachi and then Tsunade kind of "exiled" me, so I went to the Mist. But three months ago, they said they'd be allies to Suna, so I came back." Her immediate honesty scared even her. Her eyes stayed unchanged though, and only a blank expression, similar to that Sasuke used to wear on came to her face.

"Wait, wait...WHAT?! You...You killed an Uchiha? And...Itachi? Why? Sasuke-teme doesn't know! And why did Tsunade-baa exile you?" Naruto was more surprised than ever.

He was a slow one for sure.

"Well..." THe choking between her words. She knew it would come, sooner or later. "I killed Itachi because...he...r..-Did something horrible to me, just to part me and Sasuke...But Sasuke doesn't know he's dead...Don't rush to tel him, though...Tsunade would eat me alive if...Well, and ust because I killed _"a person of Konoha, even an exiled one" _she consiedered the fact of banning me from the kingdom the most possible solution...And when I came back, she wanted to exile me, but Shikamaru defended me and so now here I am."

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto sat down on his bed beside her. She wasn't on the verge of tears, strangely enough for the Sakura he knew. He looked up to her, she surely had changed.

"And just because I know you want to know, deep inside, I will tell you why I killed Itachi. Even if Tsunade and Shikamaru said it should be a secret between us three, I want you to know..But..." Sakura stopped and turned to face Naruto. He was confused, for sure, but his eyes were telling her that her secret would be safe with him.

"If it's a secret, then I'll cherish it as my own, Sakura-chan! No one will know!"

"Thank you, Naruto...You have to know that no one, no one and especially Sasuke can know, and you have to be extra careful if you talk to him about me."

"Uh...Alright Sakura-chan...If you say so."

"Believe me, once you get to know...You won't believe me."

"Hm...But you still haven't told me...So I don't know how I'll react." Naruto scratched his head.

"You're right..." Sakura said fidgeting her fingers together, her eyes fixed onto them. Looking up to her friend, she sucked in a breath and spoke. "I killed Uchiha Itachi because in his sickening desire to part me from Sasuke, he raped me." The steadiness in her voice, the flow of emotions in her words, her eyes keeping contact with his wide opened ones. Naruto didn't even move, or avert his eyes from Sakura's.

"What?" His hand on his lap, his fist clenched, his brows furrowed. No screaming, no shouting, no loud reactions. "Hm.." His eyes were saying he was thinking. "That bastard. He keeps on hurting the people I love. He's lucky he's dead. You did a great job killing him, Sakura-chan. You've rid the world from one of the bad guys. From the most worthless piece of shit." He looked up into her eyes again and now smiled. "I knew you'd do something great one day, Sakura-chan."

"Naruto..." Sakura smiled. She had hoped for such a reaction from his side, and now thaqt she got it, she was glad.

"Naruto...I've got to ask you...About Sasuke..." Sakura raised her head and looked around at the blond boy's room, as if searching for the one survivor of the Uchiha clan, or any sign of him even stepping in here.

"Sasuke...What about him?" Sudden;y, Naruto's tone had become cold.

"What has he been doing all this time? Were you still in the team, with Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well...Some time before you come, we kind of...almost killed each other." Naruto's voice faded.

"What? Why?" He worried eyes came back and her face returned to the sweet concerned blossom she was back then.

"Hmm...Let's just say that we quit being so friendly to each other...We can't considear each other "best friend" anymore...Wel, it was a mistake of both. Events, the words, and we ended up on the rooftops, punching each other. Look, here." he said and pulled his shirt at the point of his neck. A sharp wound that was probably still bleeding from time to time, still healing, was there, laying from the back of his neck to his collarbone, almost adorning the tanned skin. "That's what's left to me, apart from the bruises that already faded."

"...If...if it's still healing, even...Even on you...What did you two fight for? How did he manage to do this?" Sakura's fingers were on her lips, her eyes wide open.

"I payed him the same, don't worry! You must have noticed, Sakura-chan." There was a bitterness in his voice that could mean only one thing. "Do you still love him, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked up surprised, not daring to look at him directly. She couldn't tell herself, whether she still felt the same towards Sasuke. "...I...I don't know, I love...I lvoe many people, and Sasuke in many ways...But...In the way you mean it...I..I don't know. I really don't. And I don't know him anymore, after all this time and what he did..."

"And...At least, am I still one of your best friends?"

"Since you support and believe in me, and you're by my side, you are my best friend, Naruto."

"Do you still trust me, Sakura-chan?"

"Do you?"

"Of course!"

"I do too."

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke has changed. Tsunade told me he's in m,uch danger. He...His body tries to automatically break the seal Kakashi-sensei placed upon the curse. And if he does break it...He probably won't be able to control it." Naruto's solemn look didn't drop.

"But...But why?"

"They say he's pressured...His birthday is coming up, and it's the deadline for him to find a girl to marry him, just for him to become King...So be careful, Sakura-chan. Don't follow him, if he asks you something like that. He'll use even you. He doesn't really love you." The blond responded.

Sakura blinked.

"What..Why?"

Naruto looked at her, confused.

"You ask why? He's slowly but steadily losing control, Sakura-chan. Even if you wish to help him, he might hurt even you. And Tsunade-baa told me that if he indeed loses control, he will be recognising no one, not even those he now holds most dear." Naruto talking like that. Something had changed, for sure.

"And what...What i will do is my own decision, Naruto. Thank you for your advice. For helping me and for telling me everythng. But if indeed things are this way, I know and you do too, deep down, that my heart will not allow me to ignore Sasuke. We'll both have to help him." This time, even though there was no particular reason, she was crying, silently, not letting her sobs take over, but the flood of tears in her eyes and those running down her cheeks were more than enough. Her voice trembled in her last words and she brought her hands to her face, unable to control herself anymore.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto gasped, and then wrapped his former teammate in his arms. Her tears were falling on his hands and fingers, but he could see she was silently trying to cease them and stop. "All these tears for that bastard..."

"Naruto...Please--"

"Gomen, Sakura-chan. But you know now what we think of each other..."

"I wouldn't say that. Please promise me that no matter what happens, you'll help. Please..."

Naruto's brows furrowed. Surely, Sasuke used to be his best friend. True, they had fought; Sasuke had started it. He still thought of him the same as before. If something happened to him, Sakura would be sad. _He_ would be sad, both for letting Sasuke down and disappointing Sakura. He didn't want this.

"Look, Sakura-chan...I can't promise I certainly will do something, but I can swear that I'll try. I'll try, I can promise that!"

Sakura smiled, and in his embrace, she could feel her previous warmth comng back to her. She looked up, to him, to his smiling face, that again, again had that idiotic grin of his on, letting her know it was alright.

"Everything will somehow be okay, right?" She asked.

"Aa! If we put our best in it, they will!"

"Thank you, Naruto. Thanks." She felt him giving her a last tight hug, and then let go of the embrace. She stood up, getting ready to go. "I guess I'll just...See you around?"

"Ehgee...It's a bit hard to wander around and not fall on me!" The blond's grin reached his ears. "Goodbye, Sakura-chan!"

"Goodbye Naruto."

And she stepped out.

* * *

Her conversations with Naruto had made some things clear in her mind. She may have had her love for Sasuke locked up inside for long,, but her will to help him and her feelings for him were way above what others told her to act towards him. She had made her decision, and it was her final. She would help him, no matter if she would have to strain herself or not. She didn't care even if she would have to get hurt, or die for him.

She wanted to rebuild the few little things they had in the past. She wouldn't admit it to even herself, but it was unfair, she thought, for Sasuke to be parted from her so viciously just because of his brother's twisted will.

She found her feet taking her directly to the palace.

Strange thing how she couldn't control her own limbs today.

* * *

But she did want to go to the palace. She did want to see him. After that one time she went to check up on him, she hadn't seen him, just a few times when he returned from battles. And the truth is that she wanted to discuss what she had learned from Naruto with him.

And so, even when Inner Sakura screamed "no" making it painful for her to think, she kept walking towards the shelter of the last Uchiha in life.

Or at least, she hoped for him to be the last Uchiha in life.

Tha palace garden had changed from the last time she had seen it. Not very much, but still changes were changes, and notable ones! The rose trees had finally bloomed and the scent they released in all the garder could be fatal for someone not used to it. The fragrance matched the changed scenery, that included now little sulptues in the shape of the previous Kings and Queens, as well as the Hokages, and right in the middle of the garden, the big marble-made fountain was surrounded by an ivory-like kind of jasmine, which released the smell that reminded her of everything she lived, felt, thought and breathed in at the past six years. All her memories returned and flashed in her mind at once, and she felt a chill running down her spine. So many memories...

So many dreams that were never to be fullfilled...So many things left undone, so many words left unspoken...All their expectations were turned down, and they tried and failed. There was a problem already, alright, because she was just a random girl in Konohagakure and he was the King's son. Typical set for a fairytale, but this was their life, not a fairytale. The society was parting them. But they worked it out together and got over it, Sakura with tears and Sasuke cold and sober. And now Sakura was afraid, and she couldn't tell where that growing fear was gushing up from. She only knew that she was afraid of the words she would address to him, of the reflections of her words on his face, of his reaction...Most of all, how would she be able to look up to his face, withouth drowning in the dark ebony depths of his eyes.

"Will you back off now? And I thought you finally made up your mind!" Inner Sakura intruded."Just go on, scaredy cat!" she mocked her, with the very same nickname Sasuke used for Naruto when they were Genins.

Inner Sakura had become both bossy and extremely irritating today.

But the one to motivate her as well.

* * *

Sakura walked on the stone-made path among the flourished garden and reached the entrance; the guards standing right and left looked rather funny than scary. Even though she still had the traces of tears from before on her cheeks, Sakura couldn't help but smile, once seing them.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Is the prince inside?" She put on her mask and begun, her hands folded behind her back.

The guards looked at each other, not sure if they had to asnwer a yes or a no. The prince had told them not to let any fangirl, and girl at all enter, unless it was a medical nin sent from Tsunade. Bu the Fifth had told them to ignore their orders. And when the Uchiha boy had learned it, overraged, he threatened them, telling them that if they dared disobeying him, they would not only lose their jobs, but their heads as well.

Seriously, that summer-born boy didn't like trespassers.

And so now they were trying to balance the two statements of the Fifth and the prince.

"Um...Do you have some job here, miss?"

"Uh...As a matter of the fact, it seems that I do...I came to check up on the prince. I've got a permission signed from Tsunade-sama." Sakura said and begun searching in her pockets, to seem more convincing.

"Oh...It's alright then miss, if Godaime-sama has sent you, you don't need papers to get through. You're free to pass."

"Thank you, gentlemen."

How naive! And she hadn't even used a genjutsu on them! She passed inside. That lie would have only fooled a kid and yet they believed it! Now she knew that Sasuke was not so safe, even inside his own house.

She was only looking at her feet as she was wandering around the halls and long corridors, and so she didn't notice the changes inside as well. Only when she finally reached his door did she raise her head, and took a deep breath, and raised her hand to the doorknob, and turned it. Once the small "click" sound that assured her of the dooropened was heard, she almost took a step back.

_"Now or never!" _Inner Sakura screamed inside her head. Seriously, if she were alive, Sakura would have killed her inner.

She pushed the door and entered the dark room. It was almost noon, yet the room gave the impression of these hollow hours of dawn. A bluish light was sitting on everything, obviously the curtains were not opened yet.

Sakura walked further in and noticeed that his bed was messy, like some fight had taken place there. Some of his pillows were torn and the sheets as well, feathers here and there, a kunai somewhere in the mess and...

A few blood drops on the sheets.

Sakura brought her hand to her mouth. If _THAT_ was how his bed was, then how was _HE_? Tha blood drops were extended to the floor as well, she noticed. And then, as she walked towards them, a wave of cool air hit her, and her hair fell in her face. She brought her hand to her forehead and looked at the direction where the breeze came from. That window was slightly opened, and its curtains were now slightly moving, and Sakura saw that someone was sitting on the inside of the window sill.

She walked carefully over to where that someone sat and pulled the curtain to the left.

It was him.

And from what she could see now, the window was wide opened.

He turned his head at once to look at the intruder, ready to shout anyone out. But when his eyes met her, he froze.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, holding his left arm behind his head.He seemed to just have it there as a "pillow" for his head not to rest directly on the cold marble, yet Sakura could tell he was trying to hide something.

Maybe the bleeding limb?

That was it. No more lies. It was the moment of truth.

"I went to see Naruto earlier. And don't tak that look with me, Sasuke." she added when he grimaced in disapproval. "He told me you fought...And some more things that Tsunade either hid or did not want to tell us both. It is more about you than me, though."

"Oh yeah?" She had captured his attention, but he couldn't drop the ironic tone in his voice so easily. "And what did that moron tell you?"

"Take me seriously for once in your life, Sasuke, will you? You'd do me a great favor!" she exploaded. "It's about the curse seal!"

Did he even blink when the words left her lips?

Sakura brought her hands to her forehead in frustration and sat beside him, trying to steam off. But was he playing with her or not, he didn't seem to help her do it.

"Oh...I see." He murmured. So apathetic! Even HE was not SO stoic!

"And if this motivates you at all, I know about your deadline as well." Sakura murmured, this time more silently. And that _did _have some effect on him, finally.

"Who told you?" Sasuke asked, immediately losening. And when he realised that she had sat next to him, he repeated loudly. "Who told you!"

"Naruto. Naruto told me everything, and from the facts I can tell that he added nothing of his own in his explanations. So you can't hide from me. You wouldn't be able to even if Naruto hadn't told me a word. Are you losing your control over the seal?" she asked, putting effort in keeping her voice steady.

"That dumpface...Who does he think he is?" Sasuke muttered, loud enough for Sakura to hear him. "He jumped to the wrong conclusion again..."

"No, he didn't. That is not something he made up, Tsunade told him. You can doubt anyone, but not Tsunade. We both know that you can hide form anyone but her. So answer me honestly."

"Can I do else?" Sasuke answered with a mocking tone in his voice. "I may be losing it. So what?"

"So what? So what you say? Do you know what's going to happen if you get worse? Do you? Are you even curious to know how serious it is, what damage has it brought to you?"

"Too overreacting and dramatic to believe you."

"For once in your life take it seriously! I am a girl, how did you expect me to speak? We're talking about your own boydy, your own mind!"

"It's not like I care, anyway."

"That's the point, Sasuke! You never care for anything. You never take anything seriously, you only greedily seek power so you can have your revenge...But it's time for you to learn that you no more need to feel that hatred for your brother."

Sasuke looked up to meet her eyes. His were hard and his explression had changed to the coldest of his colder ones.

"And who do you think you are to try to be the one who will talk me out of it? Who do you think you are?" He shouted, right in front of her.

"The one who killed him for you."

"Yeah, right..._What_?" He turned and looked at her, seeking the truth not in her voice, her words, but her eyes.

And she fearlessly looked back to him, a strength she didn't know she owned, not afraid of his eyes anymore. He could read everything in her if he wanted, and she didn't have a problem letting him do it.

"_Why...Lie...Tell me it is a lie..._" He felt like everything around him was spinning, falling, like the solid ground was shattered suddenly and he was falling, deep, down, in the darkness.

"No, it's not a lie. And I'll tell youwhy I kille dhim. I had three reasons, two of my own and one about us both. And trust me, they are not just any reasons." Sakura sucked in a breath and continued. "Surely you remember the problems we had when we wanted to be together. The king's son with just a random girl? Not happening! Both Tsunade and the rest of people, all the kingdom's society was against our decision. And it seems that so was your brother. About a month before I disappeared, I was sent into the forest to gather some herbs and other plants that we needed in the medical centre. The forest...I have many great memories in there from our old team, and the worst of all as well, thanks to Itachi. He didn't like the fact that you were trying to fix your life and build new dreams, I guess...So he felt like destroying everything again, this time targetting the only one you seemed to mostly care about at that time, me. He found me wandering around alone in the forest, would he miss such a chance to harm me? He raped me and then left, just like that. Seems like he knew I woldn't want to be with you after something like that. Who knows? The point is that he had guessed right, and he wanted to part us, and he got his wish. Some time after that, I realised that I was pregnant and seeed him, secretly, not letting anyone know of anything that had happened to me. I found him and battled him, then killed him. I came back and since Tsunade saw me in the mess I was, I told her everything. She bannd me from here but did not exile me because of what I've been through. I had been wandering around in the forest and the hills out there, and without realising it, I had reached the Mist. Or at least, the lands and forests around it. I gave birth to Itachi's child but abandoned it somewhere out there, and since I couldn't come back home, I've asked for shelter in the Mist. That's all that happened until that one time I cured you after the battle. That's why I was missing, that's why I killed Itachi, that's why I will now ask you to forgive me. I may havee brought more pain or emptiness than him" Sakura had finally told him all the truth, everything that happened, but even though she had explained every little thing and felt somehow relieved, her fear of his reaction still bugged her.

Not a single breath had left her lips after her last word. Not a single tear had appeared in her eyes, those emerald orbs that now were filled with worry and looking directly at his own ebony ones.

He seemed to be lost in his own little world though; like every word Sakura had uttered had placed another brick on this invisible walls he lifted around him. The cold in his eyes had disappeared and now in the solemn dark depths of obsidian poolsonly emptiness was reflected. An emptiness that Sasuke could somehow tell made him need to feel, and this need scared him, he was so afraid of it, because it made him remember his old feelings, and that fear made him weak, weak again.

He didn't want to be weak again. He needed to be strong. And the fear would only go away if he had a comfort. If he opened up and tried to keep someone by his side. Now there was no one to cease him from doing it.

"Won;t you say anything?" Sakura asked, her eyes begging for an answer.

But he didn't reply.

You must hate me now...I took your dream from you. I killed a member of your family too. I am no better than him." She continued, and stood up. "I shall leave now. I'm sorry, I won't bother you again. I guess Tsunade was right, I should have stayed out of your life." she said and took a step, but could not continue.

He had caught her hand.

"Sakura..."

And he stood up, and turned her to face him.

"...Will you marry me?"

And he kissed her.

* * *

**Done, done, done! Done, finally done! Oh my, you have no idea how my heart bumps right now! I can barely breathe! I'm serious!**

**Maybe it is because I hadn't written a good SasuSaku chappie for long...**

**please tell me if you liked it! Skip the NaruSaku part, it's FRIENDSHIP and NOT couple-ish!**

**List of songs on mp3 player while writting it: **

**Staind - Right here, ****Coldplay - Fix You, ****Skillet - Whispers In The Dark, Red Jumpsuit Apparattus - You Guardian Angel, Hoobastank - Remember Me, AFI - Prelude 12/21, Within Temptation - The Howling, Adema - Do you Hear Me, Lacuna Coil - Enjoy The Silence, Hoobastnak - If Only, Within Temptation - Forgiven, Lacuna Coil - Unspoken, Emery - Studying politics, Seether - Broken, Thousant Foot Krutch - Hurt, Nightwish - Come Cover Me (live), Within Temptation - The Heart of Everythng, Thousant Foot Krutch - Stranger, Breaking Benjamin - Saturate **


	22. Close and far

**Hey there. I am not good, not at all, and that's why this chapter is shitty...**

**I am getting sick but that doesn't concern me...At all...All I want right now is to meet Akylina so badly, and I am missing Kostas like crazy, and I fought with my sister, and my mother told me I am no good again, and my brother kept on teasing me, and went out in the street and yelled that I am a fat bitch and...**

**And Nat a thousant sorries for not reading that YuGiOh fic, I am unforgivable.**

**I'm n such a bad mood..**

**(period, yeah, yeah, that in all...)**

**I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Say no! Say no! Say no! _NO, NO, NO!!!_"

"Remember Naruto's words!"

"Say no! He'll use you!"

Inner Sakura had gone mad immediately with the statement, and was totally against it. She bumped and screamed her opinion, while, poor Sakura stood frozen on her place, having her inner screaming like crazy in her mind and Sasuke right in front of her, so close to her, that his lips were touching hers.

And the only thing she could think of was "What's going on here?"

Funny? Irony? A twist of fate?

Call it as you wish.

When she got a hold on herself again, she immediately pushed Sasuke away, letting go of his kiss and trying to stay out of his arms' reach. She looked at him terrified, was _that_ supposed to be an answer to her question?

"What?" He asked, completely ignorant of her inside confusion. "You didn't hear?"

"No, I heard you. But..."

"But what? I didn't do it properly? Here then!" Sasuke said and kneeled down in front of her, and grabbed her left hand. "I'm sorry I didn't have the ring and flowers ready, I'll say it again now. Will you mary me?" he looked up to her, then frustrated asked. "Okay now?"

"What the hell are you doing?!?! Get up!" Sakura parted her hand from his. "That's not an answer!"

"I'm fed up with answering everyone's questions! I'm fed up with havng to talk to others like I am some kind of crimnal that needs to excuse himself! It's _my_ life dammit This is MY question, so YOU now, for once in YOUR life, skip the part of _asking_ and _answer_!" Sasuke stood up again and went to sit on his bed.

"I need an explanation! How the hell are you thinking? I come here to ask you about your health and the conversation runs over to what made us part six years ago. Then I explain everything, and I am asking you to tell me what you think, and the only thing that gets out of your lips is a proposal! And then you demand that I should ask no more questions! How convenient! Don't you think that I have the right to know, too, hmm? Since you are asking me to marry you? Tell me, how exactly did you think I would react? Did you hope that I would happily say yes immediately, without thinking it over and erasing at once what I wanted to discuss with you? Obviously, you did." Sakura's verbal waterfall indeed contained more questions, and even though that irritated him more, Sasuke didn't complain. He just sat calm and collected on his bed, right in the middle he unconsciously created in his slep, while Sakura was trying to steam off.

"What did you want to discuss?" He asked now, not really sure if he cared whether she would answer him or just keep on blaming him.

"Why did you fight Naruto? He showed me the scar. What happened?" After taking a deep breath and collecting herself, she walked up towards him and kneeled on the floor in front of his bed. "Don't you agree that I have the right to know?"

"Because you're an old teammate, as Kakashi said...Duh..." Sasuke shoved his fingers in his hair. "It's a long story. And...We made a silent last deal, without even looking at each other, we agreed that we won't talk about it to you...Because we fought for you."

Sakura's eyes opened wide. Her mind was racing and her heartbeat was bumping.

"For me?" She asked, like she couldn't believe what she just heard. "What do you mean for me? Like...Who would own me or something?" She was completely surprised, and she had all the rights to be.

"No. Naruto was with Hinata, but then she was kidnapped, and when he saw that I remained stoic to the fact that you were three years gone, he went mad. He said that I was a bastard, for not returning your love and for facing the fact of your loss like you were just a broken kunai that I lost. I told him to mind his own buisiness, and he got mad. We fought. He got that scar he showed you. He gave me one as well." Sasuke explained while unbuttoning his shirt. He took it off and with his forefinger he traced his own scar of the fight with Naruto. Sakura saw that his had not even come close to healing. It was like, the one moment it was closed, and the other it re-opened. Sasuke threw his hands to his feet and continued, looking up to the ceiling. "He certainly told you that I started everything, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did...But that's the way he judged the situation, right? Its not like he lied to me to keep me away from you! Like Tsunade... And even if he did--"

"He did. And he did it on purpose, that moron!"

"Sasuke!"

"What?"

"He's NOT like that! He cares for us more than you can imagine! He wants us to be happy, he's a true friend and even if he did lie, he did it because he is worried about me, and he wants to protect me! Just stop thinking that he always wants to harm you! No matter how much you challenge each other, deep down you still consider ech other your best friend! And you know I am right! Even though you're eternal rivals as well, you're Naruto's best friend. And you're the same to him." Sakura said.

"Yeah...right" Sasuke responded.

"Stop mocking me! I am only speaking from my heart, alright? He told me not to come to you, just because he was afraid that I would forgive you for what you've done to him and your despising attitude towards the fact that I was gone...And say yes if you proposed." Sakura said, head up, eyes shinning with determination. "He is afraid of me getting hurt and he tried to keep me away from you, to keep me safe. But I warned him that there was a high possibility of me not listening to what my mind told me, but my heart."

"You know I can't care about feelings..."

"I do. That's why I will say just that. I can't let go of what we've lived in the past. I still love you. I never stopped. It was impossible. I want to help you, and I don't care if Tsunade says you're dangerous now. I'll marry you."

Sakura had sat on the floor in front of his bed. Once she had uttered her words, she lowered her head and sighed, like a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders.

Sasuke leaned over his bed to look at her. His hand extended from his body and he placed his fingertips under her chin, and lifted it. He made her look at his eyes, and she didn't avoid his obsidian gaze.

"What did you say?" He asked, a hollow tone in his voice.

"I accepted your proposal. I gave you one promise once, and I am going to keep it. I'd do anything to make you happy, or at least help you in any way. I love you, Sasuke." Sakura replied, and shoved his hand off of her face. She caught his wrist and pulled him towards her. Surprised, Sasuke let himself get dragged close to her. "Just tell me one thing."

"Let go." He said, his voice steel.

"If I do you won't answer." It was true and he knew she knew it. Her love was deep and she could understand him more than he could imagine.

"What do you want?" he asked, upset.

"Do you love me? Do you still feel like back then?"

His hand as trapped in hers, but he found the strength to free it. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her on the bed, making her sit beside him.

"I can't feel happy. I;ve given up on that feeling a long time ago. If that's why you--"

"No. No, that's not it. I told you, I love you! Even if you can't understand it, I don't care. I want to be with you, eternally." Sakura replied.

"You will lose yourself."

"I don't care! Didn't you ask me to marry you? You take it back now? Decide what you want to do!"

"..." Sasuke didn't answer. He only looked at her, deep in the eyes, not caring if she blamed him for once more, only wanting to have her eyes in front of his, in his reach so that he could feel reassured. He felt safe when her eyes were in reach. He calmed immediatelly whenever obsidian made contact with emerald. He raised his arm and pulled her to him, embracing her. He smelled her scent, the bloomed cherry tree fragrance that she breathed out and placed a kiss at the top of her head. His fingers untied her forehead protector and her hair fell loose in her face. Sakura, surprised, looked up to him and at that instant, his lips touched hers.

"I need someone by my side."

And in the simple statement that he whispered on her lips, in those six words, Sakura read all the years of pain, fear, uncertainity, loneliness, ignorace and alienation that he went through without her. Feelings that she had only imagined Sasuke would ever feel came up on the surface to hit her, and she understood what her heart was telling her from the very first moment she had ever laid her eyes on him.

He needed love.

His life lacked love. And her heart was full of it. She was willing to give him this love, all of it, even the last drop that resided in her.

- - -

And while the prince of Konohagakure was finally getting some light in his life, its army was fighting forcefully with only half of their powers left. This was a continuous battle since last afternoon, and both the generals and the soldiers felt worn out. The forces of Suna were stronger, but they weren't going to give up so easily.

"Oi! Naruto! Behind you!" Shikamaru shouted while he himself was trying to dodge the kunais of the Suna soldiers. He lookee around and saw that they were slowly retreating towards Konoha; that was bad, very bad. Only a small team and its leader kept the enemy from wntering the gates. "Come one...Come on...You're a genious...Think of something!" he muttered to himself.

On the other edge of the battlefield, almost right in front of the kingdom's gates, a team consisting of eleven, silver-eyed men was fighting with all they got, trying to hold off the forces of the enemy that were about to win. The leader of the team was giving his all in battle, not only to be more effective, but also to encourage his men. And they, following his example didn't hold back on the enemy. Hyuuga Neji could be a great squad leader when situation demanded he should.

The forces pressuring them were far greater in number, almost fifty men, and their leader was a tall, muscular man with hard eyes, half of his face covered and almost two times Neji's size.But that was not enough for the young man to be afraid, and he took him on all by himself. He trusted the rest of the enemy's men to his comrades' capability and he was duelling with that man, who seemed to be in his uncle's age.

"What happened to you, bugs? Where did your powers go?" asked the man, carefully dragging a kunai out of the holster on the side of his right leg. "Are they so badly injured that they can't fight anymore? Or do they feel way old for this, so your Heads decided to assign babies like you in their place?"

Neji didn't answer. He knew that if he ignored the insults, the man would eventually stop. Hs eyes were fixed on him and his hand ran to his own holster. On the last moment he noticed the other man's smirk and thenrealised he was cornered. Behind him, there were two explosive seals the man had somehow managed to put. He pulled out two shuriken and while he jumped in the air, he threw them on the seals and they exploaded, making him disappear from the man's view for a little bit.

"Dammit!" The other hissed and spat on the ground, and walked right into the smoke that was coming down.

"Right behind you, if you're wondering." Neji whispered and hit the man on the base of his neck, then jumoed in thei air again and threw him four kunai, aiming for vital spots.

But the man was Jounin level as well, so he was not to be underestimated. He used a kawarimi and then, when the blades hit the log, it dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji activated Byakugan and looked around, trying to trace the enemy, but he somehow found it imposssible. It was like that man was invisible, even to his eyes. The moment he turned his head so that he could see behind him, he felt a sharp pain on the top of his left shoulder, and the cold blade of a kunai penetrated his skin like it was paper thin.

A howl escaped his lips before he could stop it, and he fell on the ground, grabbing his shoulder. Blood was dripping from between his fingers and his comreades turned at once to look at him.

"Neji-sama!"

"The prince!"

"Hurry up, the prince is hurt!"

His men were not panicked, as some others may have been. They only rushed to finish off what was left of the fourty nine men that had attacked in the beginning. Neji turned to look a them and a painful smile tried to come p to his lips but he stopped it. He only stood up, shaking, and yelled at his comrades to stay at their place united and keep fighting, and don't care about him. He would be alright, he knew.

He turned to face his enemy now, and the blood-stained fingers of his right hand were already removing the small dagger from his shoulder. He bent down and puled Tenten's gift out of the secret holster he had tied on his knee from the inside of his boot. He helt it tightly in his left palm and could almost hear her words when she gave it to him.

_"If you ever need an ally stronger, more worthy of anyone else...I'll be here for you. Take it. I'll always be with you. Have it on, and I'll never leave your side."_

He missed her so much now, and on the blade he could see her eyes, her smile, her face like she was there, next to him, and her characteristics were reflecting on the steel surface.

"I'm gonna need your help now, Tenten." he whispered as he held the kunai out and called for the enemy. The flow of blood coming out of his wound had increased, but he would have to worry about that later. What mattered the most now was for him to fight, eficiently enough to win.

The man opposing him turned to face him again, surprised. He didn't expect Neji to be that prepared. But as stated before, Neji's expertise was rotation, and his reflexes were perfect.

Tenten's kunai was shining in his hand under the morning sun. It gave him the courage to continue and the strength to last no matter what. He kept her in mind, how hard she was working to secretly help Konoha, how her love for blades had managed to make her not only work with them like they were parts of her oen body, but also to create them, giving each of them the usual form, but in the same time, give them a little characteristic that made every piece unique, and that characteristic was visible to noe one else's eyes but Neji's. And not because of Byakugan.

The blades that Tenten created were never the same. It was her love for Neji that made her give a special twist to the shuriken, a certain sharpness to the kunai, and the one he held in his hand now was the sharpest she ever made; the sharpest she _would_ ever make. And it was her gift to him.

When the man saw the kunai, he laughed. His long sword that he now pulled out of its sheath seemed more effective to him than Nej's dagger.

And so he ran forth, towards the young Hyuuga, swinging the sword around like it was nothing, as if it were just a ribbon, roaring like a lion. The long blade whistled in the air as it came down and Neji took a quick steo to the left, dodging it on the last moment. He quickly took three shuriken out and threw them on the ground, where the tip of the blade had landed, intending to block it. And he did it.For a few seconds, the man was unable to move his weapon. Neji's lips curled up in a smirk and he stepped towards the man, draggin Tenten's kunai on the surface of the sword on purpose.

The sound it made dissolved the other's concentration, and then Neji was right in front of him. When the Suna general realised it, the kunai had alreay been planted in his chest. With the accuracy of a doctor proceeding with a surgery, Neji had managed to not harmm his opponent's vital organs, but in the same time, he had destroyed the centre of his chakra circulate system. Without even touching the tenketsu points, Neji had left the man opposing him with no more chances to ever again use genjutsu or ninjutsu. His only chance from now on would only be taijutsu, and not the noble Juuken Neji had the privilege to use.

The man fell on the ground grabbing his chest, and then Neji realised that all the enemy's army was seriously harmed. All his comrades had somehow managed to take down the Suna soldiers, and now the surivors were dragging their injured ones and leaving.

Neji turned to the rest of the Hyuuga men, and relieved when he saw that almost no one of them was seriously injured. Naruto was loudly waving goodbye to the enemy with threats, daring them to come again. He smiled when he saw Shikamaru punching him at the back of his head, Naruto never changed.

He slowly walked towards them, his right hand covering the cut on his left shoulder. When he reached them, everyone was talking about where their prince Sasuke had been. How he once again had left them fight alone. Since he wasn't injured, he had to be there to fight. And yet he didn't. Even when they finally re-entered the kingdom's gates, each heading for their homes, the question was still on everyon'es lips. _Where was our leader?_

A question that ehy would be able to answer immediatelly if they took a walk to the Haruno residence. It was remoted the past years and until recently, no one lived there. It was empty, and only the ravens visited it, at night, using the trees in its garden as their own houses.

Now there were people in the house, two in number, sitting next to each other on a bed under a window with light pink curtains. The pink of the bloomed cherry tree's bloossoms.

- - -

"And your point is?" Sakura asked him, while she was tying some clothes.

"That if we're gonna get married, you have to come live with me for a bit before it. So for the servants and the guards to get used to you." Sasuke answered, careful to not let more words slip from his lips.

"For the servants and the guards. Of course." Sakura put her clothes in the bag she had on her bed, and stood up, heading for her bookself. _And now that I think of it, for me to get used in waking up beside him, I guess._ she thought to herself. "Why am I not convienced?"

"Because you're you. Do what you want, either you believe me or not, it doesn't matter to me much."

_"Some trust you're going to build a marriage on, hmm?"_ Inner Sakura. Hah. Great.

"Just in time, bitch. And I was wondering when I would hear your lovely voice again.." Sakura murmured, sarcasm filling her voice.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, not really sure if he heard Sakura correctly. Because her speaking like that..

"I cursed my inner. We tend to fight a lot, but usually, inside my head."

"Psycho." Oops. That wasn't right. What was he thinking! It was Sakura who was in front of him, not that Tayuya from the Sound Five. Luckily he didn't open his mouth to utter the thought. Instead, he only quietly but impatiently and steadily asked "Are you ready yet?"

"Just one minute..." she replied, heading for her wardrobe again, and she opened it. Lifting the bedcovers she kept in there, she took a pack, her own kunai set that her parents had left for her. She put that in her bag as well, and then threw it over her shoulder. "Ready" she whispered, barely audible, but for Sasuke loud enough to hear her.

"We're off then." he grabbed her hand and pulld her to his side, then started walking.

They were off and thirty steps away, and yet Sakura kept looking at her house, a weight on her shoulders, a weight that was not due to the heavy bag. When it was no more visible, she couldn't help but think about Taito. What was he doing now? There had been no more murders reported, from what she knew, and no one had seen him again.

"Sasuke..." she started, her voice shaky. "...If I ever...dound my son again..."

"No."

He obviously had guessed what she was about to say.

"I don't want infections in my future family."

That hurt her. Infections? Okay, it was Itachi's child, but her son as well!

"Would you mind your words towards him? He's not only your brother's son, he's mine as well!"

"Worse for him."

"Him who?"

"Itachi."

"With what you said it's like you're including me in it too! And if you think of me as an infection, then don't marry me! Find someone clean and bright to be by your side like I did, to endure what I did and still do!" Sakura yelled and everyone walking on the street beside them turned their heads to see what was going on. Even the little children playing around ceased their activities and looked at them, with their big curious eyes wide opened.

Sasuke, irritated, turned and slapped her. Her hand was still trapped in his, and with her otherone she was holding her bag, sos he could not do anything to prevent him from hitting her. When his hand landed on her cheek, she did't feel the pain. The natural feeling was swallowed by a bitter anger, emotion that filled her but slowly turned into apathy, when a small drop of red made its appearance on her pale lips, and dripped tracing the way down her chin.

* * *

**It's over and KanashimiAngel is dead. Seriously. She only liked the two last paragraphs, and the beginning of it. It sucks and it's small...**

**Sue me freely people. KanashimiAngel is dead tired and needs sleep, for sure. She's also depressed, and don't try to cheer her up. Only reviews will do it.**

**Next chapter is gonna be A LOT bigger, and A LOT more interresting, KanashimiAngel swears it. You won't want it to be over.**

**Tracklist: Breaking Benjamin - Here We Are, Within Temptation - A Dangerous Mind, My Chemical Romance - The Ghost of You, Skillet - The Last Night, Thousant Foot Krutch - Last Words, Breaking Benjamin - Had Enough, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel, Breaking Benjamin - Breath, Within Temptation - All I Need, Breaking Benjamin - So Cold, Skillet - Whispers In The Dark, Adema - Betray, Staind - Right Here, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Cat and Mouse, Within Temptation - Forgiven, Thousant Foot Krutch - Hurt, Breaking Benjamin - Blow me Away, Chris Daughtry - Crashed (acoustic), Sunrise Avenue - Diamonds, Hoobastank - The First of Me.**


	23. Over and Over

**Aaah, yes. After quite the time, (I think...) I'm uploading. I mean, updating. I really really like this chapter, mostly because it contains almost everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. And there're gonna be some moments of my new bishie, Jiraiya-sama!**

**Oh, I know, he's old and such...Oh no, you don't want to try and change my mind! I have also liked Seijouro Hiko from Rurouni Kenshin and he's old too! And Dartz from YuGiOh, and Amidamaru from Shaman King... Oh yesh, I've got a tendacy for the muscular men with the strange haircolor (Hiko-dark green, Dartz-like gaara's eyes, Amidamaru-white)...**

**Oh, anyway, I runt again. Enough drooling over old and new loves, ON WITH THE FIC!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my beloved friend Charavgi, who so suddenly fell in my life again JUST in the right time. **

**EDIT 12 / 25 / 2007: This is ALSO my Christmas giftie to my beloved ichiban no tomodachi, Akylina, for you koichii! For being so patient with me all this time! **

**Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto**

* * *

With the sound of his hand on her cheek, the turning of her head, the cut in the inside of her mouth, Sakura came to her senses. People were looking at them, and both Sasuke's and her eyes flied to them. Sasuke dragged her from the hand he still had in his, but Sakura pulled her hand and with the firce she put in the attempt, she fell face down on the street. Her head bumped on the road and her forehead protector untied, falling under, and the small bag she carried her belongins in slipped from her shoulder to the ground.

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to look at her, looking down from above. He didn't make a single move. He didn't even raise an eyebrow. Sakura grited her teeth as bitter tears came to her eyes. There she was, in the middle of the street, fallen in front of Sasuke, vulnerable to all those eyes of the crowd, and hit by the only man she had always sacrificed her life and will for.

Her tears streamed down her face and fell on the ground, accompanying the small scarlet drops that left her lower lip. And even though she was bleeding, she bit it hard, so not to let herself fall lower and cry, in front of all those people.

As she attempted to pick herself off of the fround, she saw Sasuke's feet move. He turned around and walked away, leaving her behind.

"You're pathetic."

That was it?! It was him who brought her to this state and now he was backing off, throwing away all the responsibilities, leaving her alone and telling her that she's pathetic? A huge urge to stand up and slap him in front of the eyes of his people emerged inside her, probably due to the fact that Inner Sakura was enraged.

"You know the way home. Don't be late."

The bastard! And he was still ignoring her!

What exactly had she dragged herself into?

* * *

"Are you nuts? We may all die! All three of us!"

"I don't care, I really don't! I only want to get out of here!"

"Well fine, but I'm not realeasing the seal. _Not a CHANCE!_"

"Please Anko...Please!" The red-eyed Yuuhi said, bringing her hands to the shoulders of the other woman. "I see that he's not...able? I don't know, but if nobody came so far..."

"Maybe they don't know!" Anko tried to hold back on Kurenai's insiting.

"Who said that? Don't you remember the talk of the guards that we heard? That there was an argument between the two kingdoms because of us? That no one of them wants to sign a peace treaty just because we're right in the middle?" Kurenai kept on.

"Kurenai, it's not you that is talking right now and we both know it! It's your supressed feelings. And besides, if not for you, think about your baby! If I release the seal...After all these years, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to control it. We can be killed. And even if one-_you_ escape with just injuries, the beby will definitely die!: Anko tried to bring her to her senses. "How would _he_ feel if something like that happened? How would _you_ feel if you lost your child because of a decision that you made?"

The red-eyed woman looked at her silently. Her lips, her mind, just couldn't form a sentence to come and contrast Anko's words. She was thinking of all the things she told her, she was thinking of her unborn child, of _him_...How was Asuma? What had he been doing, why haven't he tried to save her? Why weren't there any news? Writting to prisoners in other kingdoms was allowed, even in wars. Now wasn't he able to? And if no, why? She had missed him, sh had missed her home, she missed being with the people she knew and it had started to bother her. She didn't want to stay more in this underground prison.

She was lucky in her loneliness though, because she had Anko with her, she wasn't completely alone. Had it not been for Mitarashi to be dragged in with her, she would have gone mad.

"Is it okay now?" Anko asked, embracing her shoulders. We'll have to stand it."

"But for how much longer?"

"I don't know. I won't lie to you, I really don;t know. But since it's the two of us, don't worry. Okay?"

"Alright..." Kurenai whispered, folding her arms. "I miss Asume so much, Anko."

"I miss Ibiki too, but we can do nothing but think of them and hope that they'll come to rescue us." Anko sighed and turned to the little window, to the clear night sky above them. "The stars are so bright..."

"They will come."

* * *

The next morning was not so well dawned for some people in Konoha. Izumo and Kotetsu had fallen asleep while guarding the Hokage mansion, and when Tsunade found them, she had lectured the wits out of them. Right now, they were carrying tones of paperwork Tsunade was done with, papers she had signed, some for sending off to other kingdoms, and some for convicting certain actions, and there were really _tones_ of them. Other than that, many jounins were out of the kingdom on missions and, the only one who was in the region was Sarutobi Asuma.

Speaking of whom, he was really, really annoyed. The Fifth, knowing the emotional state he had fallen into after his wife was kidnapped, hadn't been sending him to missions out of the kingdom, in fear of him going and trying to save her. The only way he could strike his nerves was to take out all of his anger on his students, Ino, Chouji and rarely Shikamaru. That boy! He was always busy lately, running errands for the Hokage and arranging papers for the upcoming Chuunin and Jounin exams. And meanwhile, he had time to take Ino out and train with his father on the secret jutsus of the nara clan. Asuma was impressed from the fact that one hell of a lazybutt like Shikamaru asked a girl out, and most of all, Ino. But they were engaged now, who knew? Maybe things had taken a strange twist, as Shikamaru had told him.

But Asuma had a feeling. A feeling that told him that Shikamaru wasn't really interrested in Ino, and was only marrying her because their fathers had engaged them. Ino, on her side, seemed rather happy about what was to happen, but he could see that Shikamaru wasn't as enthusiasted. Maybe it was the fact that he was a pure lazybutt, bored to even lift a pencil and write, maybe the fact that he was thinking that it would be troublesome to express his feelings, maybe it was the fact that he was a man, and according to both his experience as his teacher all those years and the sayings of others, he was a sexist. So Asuma couldn't understand Shikamaru's decision at all.

But when could he understand this certain student of his?

Right now, he was with Chouji, waiting for Shikamaru and Ino to come and go for training. All three of them had agreed to show him their new techniques and find another InoShikaChou formation to fit them.

"Dammit, that lazy genious head of his!" Asuma sighed, with his eternal cigarette on hand. "How mich longer is he going to make us wait?"

"Ino is late today as well, sensei." Chouji said. It was strange, but from the moment Shikmaru had lazily announced that he and Ino were engagedm Asuma had only rarely seen him eating through trainings. Asuma knew of the secret love Chouji always kept deep buried towards Ino, and the fact that she was stupid enough to not look at him as an equal male as she did for mostly everyone else, and humiliate him, was irritating the teacher. Maybe he should have punished her, sometime, or talk to her father. He made a silent note in the back of his head to lecture her at the end of the training.

"Oi!" The loud, lazy voice that could belong to no one else than Shikamaru reached their ears. They both turned to the direction it came from, and saw a troubled Shikamaru walking towards them, with Ino clinging to him, embracing one of his arms and having a wide happy smile on her face. Chouji's mood changed immediately and Asuma scratched his head. Were thwy going to be coming to trainings together now?

"Hey there! Good morning, Chouji, sensei!" Ino squeeled with her oh-so-happy voice. "Guess where I'll be going tonight!"

"Ino...Is it necessary that you tell them now?" Shikamaru asked, obviously trying to avoid the upcoming conflict that would definitely arrive if she spoke.

"I don't see the reason no, Shika!" she answered and turned to Asuma and Chouji. "Shikaku-sama asked from daddy to take me and go at their place for dinner...They'll be arranging the date of our wedding!"

"Hey, just a minute! Pops never "asked" Inoichi to bring you over at our place...They were talking about it!" Shikamaru interrupted. "Your father just stated that they wanted us two to be present!"

"Does it really matter?" she hugged his arm again, full of hapiness. "The result is the same! Tonight we'll learn the day that will unite us!"

_"Oh just how great..."_ Shikamaru thought. "Oi, Asuma! Can;t we just begin this training? I still have lots to do for the Fifth."

"Okay genious, we got the picture." Asuma said smiling. "Alright everyone, today we're having a more dificult task. You'll try to catch and hit a certain camouflaged bird, who will be hiding -flying somewhere around here." he adressed, and now all three of his students were paying attention to his words. "Shikamaru acts first. Once you've spotted it, capture its shadow and call for Ino to take lead. She'll try to get in its mind and then Chouji will stretch his hand to reach it from the place he stands. Any questions?"

"Nothing!" Chouji said.

"Everything clear" Ino squeeled in her high-pitched tone.

"Crystal clear. So, so damn troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled and everyone laughed.

"Okay now, concentrate and...Start!"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and brought his hands together. Slowly, he drew himself far from the other sounds of the firest and tried to spot the noise of the flying bird. Steps on the ground, leaves shaking, the breeze, everything was silent. For an instant, he heard the quick bird flying somewhere at his left and behind. He let his shadow wander around, and when he saw that the bird was on a good spot for Ino to catch it, he stood up and shouted.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu! Ino, now!"

The instant his voice came out, Ino brought her hands together and came out front, stood next to him and spoke.

"Shintenshi no Jutsu! Chouji, go! Grab it!" And her body fell, left for Shikamaru to release the bound of his fingers and grab her in his arms. Chouji moved, and lifted his arm.

"Baika no Jutsu!" he shouted, and his raised hand extended, reaching for the bird and knowing that it was Ino who was inside it, he didn'thit it, as Asuma had stated they should do, but he only touched its head with his forefinger.

"Yosh. Great job with your old techniques, everyone. Now, tell me, all of you..." Asuma spoke as all three of them were yelling "KAI!", cancelling their jutsus. "Are there any new techiniques you've learned and perfectised?"

"Oh! Oh! Me first! Me first!" Ino squeeled happily after returning to her body and getting out of Shikamaru's arms. "Daddy helped me perfectise one!"

"Alright Ino. Name it, and speak of its effects." Asuma nodded.

"It's called Teki no Seshi no Jutsu. It doesn't need a lot of accuracy, as Shintenshi does, and it only acquires the user to be one with swift movements. You release the technique, and quickly get into the mind of the opponent, no need to leave your own body. You tell them that a comrade is the enemy, and they attack each other. You can do that several times, multiplying the number of confused enemies." Ino explained, fixing her hair.

"That's useful. You can take on quite a number with this, and without needing Shikamaru to hold them bound with his kagemane."

"Riight!" Ino sang like a bird. "Now's Shika's turn!"

"Okay...Shikamaru, go on."

"Alright, alright..." Shikamaru mumbled. "Pops taught me Kage Kurishibari...And he kicked the hell out of me to make me perfectise it..." At that point, Ino burst out in laughter, soon followed by Asuma and Chouji. "And well, it's a neck-binding technique. It can grab several people at once and astrangle them, if the user's amount of chakra exceeds the ones of his opponents'." He continued, jolting once he felt Ino's arms around his own neck. "Ino, get off!"

"Alright, another great technique..Chouji, what about you?"

The moment Chouji opened his mouth to state what he had perfectised, a loud scream that made all of the shiver was heard.

" NARA SHIKAMARU! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU DRAGGING YOUR LAZY BUTT?"

"Oh my, dammit! The applications!" the Nara yelled, terrified. For him to be that scared, and with the voice that was definitely the Fifth's, it was like Shikamaru's butt was on fire. He threw Ino off of him and yelled a rushed "see y'all later", and ran towards the direction of the voice.

"G...Godaime..." he huffed, ready to receive his punishment.

"Shikamaru...For you to be goofing off, I will suppose that you're done with the applications for the Chuunin and Jounin exams..."

* * *

The dark-haired kid with the shinning green eyes was walking up and down in his underground and stone-made room. He was irritated to the bone, and he couldn't strike his nerves on anything. His master had forbid him to go out and kill any more people. He wanted to avenge the death of his father, and he needed to find his mother to do so.

A little lizard dragged itself into his personal space and by the wall, climibing on it and bringing itself to the level of his eyes, it hissd like a snake. Taito lowered his head, aving his hair down,, telling it that he got its point. His master was calling for him.

He got out of his room as silently and secretly as he could. One of the benefits of this liberty of his was that he was free to set his room up into whichever wall he prefered, and not tell where it was. There was only this small lizard, black with red strings and a light pink belly, as well as its green eyes, that he trusted and had it as a messenger. He knew that, because his boss had the ability to control the reptiles and amphibians, he would be able to talk with it and force it into telling him where Taito's only refuge from everything was. But the lizard was his only friend, a great one, and was as loyal.

So now Taito was walking towards the room that his boss resided, deciding on his way to ask for some explanations.

And indeed. The moment he stepped into the dark room, lit only by one single candle, his master raised his head.

"Ah...Taito...My dear apprentice. I see that you've immediately responded to my call."

"Cut the crap, old man. For those five years that you've taken "care" of me, you never showed me your face! You always ordered from the shadows, and I was obeying like _HELL_ I cared! You no more let me take out my anger, and you didn't keep your promise either! I want my revenge, I want my mother dead and my father back and I want it now! I'm fed up with doing everything you want tnad not even complain!" Taito exploaded at once. He was determined, his green eyes were shining and he looked very much like his mother. And the person hiding in the shadows knew this determined passion very well.

"Quiet!" He shouted, though still keeping his temper. "You impudent brat! Lower your voice when you're facing me! How _DARE you_ admonish _me!" _He said with his shallow, alluring voice. It sent chills down the kid's spine, but he didn't hold back.

"I want my father back! You promised! I've been offerning you my services for way too long for nothing!" he shouted and prepared for more, but with what his eyes greeted the next moment, he lost his words.

The man lurking in the shadows had stood up from his throne and was clinging to a younger figure with white hair. Taito's eyes opened wide as they walked on in the little light that the lone candle was giving the room.

So that was him. That was his face. He had decided to show himself at last. Taito stared as a pale man, with long dark hair and yellow eyes, purple shaded, made his appearance. He was wearing a grey yukata tied with a dark green ribbon, his arms and legs were covered in bandages. His right hand was around the shoulders of another man, this one dressed in purple, with white hair tied ina ponytain and dark eyes behind round-shaped glasses.

"Impatient, are we?" Orochimaru asked, and the kid's pupils changed immediately. Green gave its place to crimson red once more as his master of years was approaching. "But for no longer, oh that is." he continued and stretched a hand.

"Orochimaru-sama, I must ask you to think of your body's condition..." the white-haired man spoke.

"Stop it, Kabuto." he said and turned to Taito. "My dear child..." his wide mouth opened once again as he was taking his hand off of his helper's shoulders and trying to close the two-steps gap that was between him and Taito. The boy was completely frozen, after all, he was only seven years old, thus he did not react when he felt cold fingers running on the skin of his cheeks, when Orochimaru reached for him. His body was weak, because the moment he let go of Kabuto's protective help, he fell on his knees. "...so young and fair..." he hissed, almost drooling over the flesh of the child in front of him.

"Enough!" A shar, deep voice echoed in the room, making Taito wake up and jump back as that Kabuto helped his master stand on his feet again.

"But of course..." the snake-like voice unfolded once again. "I've got a suprise for you, Taito, my dear." he said. "You'll have to learn that when I say something, I don't go back on the word. You wanted to see your father, right?"

Taito didn't say a word. He was petrified. The kid, for the first time in his life, didn't know what to do, what to believe, how to react. And that man, who had entered the scenery and conversation just now...Who was he, how come he was here? This was a place that only he, his master and his assistant resided and knew how to find. The man was still in the shadows, so Taito couldn't see what his face or appearance looked like. He felt no fear, though, only a strange familiarity, like he knre that man from long ago.

"So this is him, Orochimaru?" The man's voice echoed once again, and the sweat drops on Orochimaru's face streamed down, falling to the ground. He was not afraid though, _he_ wasn't afraid of anything.

"Ah, Itachi-san. It's such a pleasure to hear your lovely voice so close for once more..."

"Keep that crap for my brother, snake. Now answer me." The Itachi-called man walked into the lit area and lifter his gaze to level Taito's eyes. The kid still had its sharingan on, and once seeing the eyes of the stranger, there were no more doubts.

Orochimaru had kept his promise.

Taito was standing in front of his father.

- - - - - - - -

While his wife was wandering around the kingdom, dragging the poor Nara kid along in errands and making him carry tones of applications, duke Jiraiya had taken her place and was now signing papers. He could really understand why Tsunade was exhausted and whining all the time, paperwork wasn't the easiest thing in the world to deal with. And if he took into account the fact that his wife wasn't the type of woman to sit still behind a desk but wander around like a butterfly from one flower to another, then his princess sure had the patience of a donkey. **_(A/N:_**_ Greek saying has it that the donkeys are pretty patient animals, and the saying goes as following: You're as patient as a donkey._

Meanwhile, several Chuunin and Jounin were coming in the office, reporting to him over a mission they had completed and waiting for him to either give them another one or dismiss the,. One of those times, the Jounin and Chuunin that entered the room stole quite the time from him. They were shinobi sent to the enemy kingdom, to gather information.

"Konoha's green beasts, mission accomplished, my lord!" The Jounin burst out enthusiasted.

"Osu! Reporting!" The Chuunin said, twice as motivated as the so very similar person beside him.

"Oh lord...What in the holy names of naked women made you come in here in such a rush, Gai, Lee?" The perverted Sannin asked, his hands to his forehead; frustrated. "What was the mission my wife assigned you on?"

"We were sent to spy on Sunagakure's army, sir!" Lee said, his voice as always in a loud, assuring tone.

"Well, well. My lovely princess sure knows what she's doing. So tell me, what have you discovered?"

"They're certainly outnumbering us, sir! They've got thousands of men!"

"Are you certain we're talking about the same kingdom, Gai?"

"Of course! They all had Suna's hitai-ate on!"

"But...Suna, outnumbering Konoha...That's a bit awkward."

"There were five though, who weren't from Sunagakure, Jiraiya-sama." Lee stated, with his eyes focused on the aging Sannin. "And I think that you know them."

"Where were they from, Lee? Could you tell?" Jiraiya asked.

"Their hitai-ate told me...They're form Otogakure, sir!"

"What? You're sure you didn't see Orochimaru with them too, Gai, Lee?"

"No, no, Jiraiya-sama. There were Jirobou, Sakon, Kidoumarou, Tayuya and Kimimaro..."Lee answered.

"Lee...Kimimaro and Tayuya were dead for six years now...How can you say you saw them? That's impossible!"

"Not when their master is Orochimaru. Have you forgotten, Jiraiya-sama? What he did to himself? What he did with Kabuto's body? What he intended to do with Uchiha Sasuke's...? And if he did it once with Kimimaro's, he an do it again, not to mention using it for another person..." Gai said, and then took a step forward. "Most of all, remember what he did to Anko."

"Gai!" Jiraiya said and raised his eyes to the Jounin in front of him. "You know that Chuunin can't learn about this! Why are you bringing it up now? You're betraying your oath to Anko!"

That moment, the door of the Hokage's office opened, and Iruka stepped in, making Jiraiya stop looking at Gai and his student. The duke raised his eyes to look at the soldier, who seemed t be in a hurry to talk with him. His eyes were fixed on him and Jiraiya sighed, sitting back on his chair.

"Alright, then. Gai, Lee, you're dismissed for the moment. Rest for today, and tomorrow you'll be fighting as well." The white-haired Sannin said as the Jounin and his student were nodding, then turned their backs to go. "..and Gai..."

The man dressed in green turned again, to face Jiraiya.

"I _never_ forgot. I _always_ remember. _It's inevitable._"

Lee turned to his teacher and Gai looked at him. The Sannin was right. The curiosity Lee would probably show, would make him betray his word to Mitarashi Anko. He wasn't going to let that happen. All her colleagues had sworn to keep her secret safe. He wouldn't let it slip, not even for his precious Lee. _The vows, the ones to be kept, are the things to keep a man's pride_, he reminded himself as he was walking outside of the office, with lee next to him.

No one of them noticed though, the figure dressed in black that was leaning to the wall.

"So..." Jiraiya said, kind of relaxed, when Iruka was the only one left in the room. "You're pretty eager, Iruka. What's so urgent?"

"I know that this is not the right time to ask something like that, my lord, since we are in war, but it's really important. You see, Shizune and I had a talk last night...She's three months pregnant."

"But that's wonderful!"

"It is...But only to a certain extend. Tsunade-sama had already assigned me to a suicidal mission, even though my level is not that high..."

"You're still one of the most excellent Chuunin, Iruka."

"And this squad she put me in will be leaving only in two weeks. Shizune and I decided that it would be better for us...If we could get married in the meantime."

"Another wedding, huh..." the Sannin whispered, bringing his hands to his temples. "In such a situation, laws have it to perform all the ceremonies in the same day...But the Yamanaka and Nara families have set their up only for a week ahead of yours...I'll have to talk to Inoichi and Shikaku..." Jiraiya said.

"Then, it's possible?" Iruka asked, a tone of hope in his voice.

"If they agree...And we've got to inform Sunagakure before, too. But no one is as fast to go there and come back in four days...I'll send a hawk, when everything's settled. I'll inform you too."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama! I'll go tell Shizune now. Thank you for your time." Iruka said and tilted his head, then turned around and walked to the door.

There was not a second to pass from the moment he closed the door behind him, and Shizune threw herself in his embrace, a look of anticipation in her black eyes.

"What did he say?"

Iruka smiled and stroked her hair.

"Calm down. He said many things, but the meaning is that we're probably becoming an official family on this weekend."

-- -- -- --

She was done lecturing Shikamaru, and now Tsunade was on her way back to the Hokage mansion.

"Man, lecturing this boy is SUCH _a drag_..." ONly after she used his sentence, she realised she was talking like the one she had just knocked some steam off on. "And now I'm even _talking_ like him! Damn kid..."

She was walking towards her office, when she noticed Sakura walking on the other side of the street. Her eyes widened at the sight of her student, she had a bruise on her right arm, a cut that was bleeding on her lower lip and a big nasty bruise on the centre of her forehead. Her student's eyes were filled with unshed tears and she was walking soulessly on the street, a hand on her left cheek and the other hanigng down as if it were dislocated, dragging a bag along.

"Sakura?" she asked, stretching her hand out front.

The green-eyed girl slowely raised her eyes up to her teacher, and forced a small smile. Tsunade was not convinced by that and raised an eyebrow. Sakura dropped the happy expression and lowered her head, her hair falling in her face.

"What's this mess, Sakura? What happened to you? As far as I know, you weren't assigned to any missions lately, even though you seem as if just returning form one." Tsunade said, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her alive when she saw that Sakura kept on staring at her feet apathetically. "Answer me, and don't you dare lying!"

"You want an honest reply? I'm moving in at Sasuke's." Sakura said in a tired attempt to excuse. It was faint, and she didn't even have the will to argue with Tsunade.

"You're doing WHAT?!" Tsunade asked.

Sakura's hand moved from her face to her ear.

"Don't shout sensei, please..."

"Don't you tell me what to do, Haruno Sakura! You're doing _WHAT?_ Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?"

"I hadn't answered that, if you remember, Tsunade-sama...I cannot control my feelings, I knew I wouldn't be able to, and when he asked me to...I've never stopped loving him, I want to help him get his peace of mind back."

"Sakura, this is not only for him, it's for you too. He's dangerous. Way dangerous. He can harm you at any time, without hesitation. The seal--"

"You don't need to tell me; Naruto already did. Tell me one thing, sensei. Why is everyone I know trying to discourage me? Why can't I just go live with the man I love? Why is everyone else living happily ever after and only I am not allowed to? Why?" Sakura asked. They had been walking towards the palace, and she hadn't even raised her head. She had gone there three times only and yet she had memorized the way there. She didn't need to look where she was going, to know where she would step next.

"Everyone's trying to protect you, shouldn't that tell something to you? The seal is dangerous. _He_ is dangerous. You deserve much better than him." Tsunade said as they walked through the great garden. "And tell me now...why exactly are you staying with him?"

But Sakura didn't answer. Sasuke had said he wanted to say it all by himself.

And at that moment, they went past the guards and entered the building. They had taken only a few steps inside the great hall, and a voice echoed in around them.

"Finally, you found the way? You're late, Saku--..."

He cut off his own sentence, probably because of seing the person next to Sakura.. His brows furrowed and he went downstairs, jumping over the five last stiars. He landed next to them with a dazed look, a question for Sakura in his ebony eyes.

"What's that? What are _you_ doing here? Why did you bring her, Sakura? Answer me, dammit!" Sasuke asked, yelling.

"Is that the way you're going to talk to her? And you're accepting him? And still, Sakura, you didn't asnwer me. Why are you moving in with him?"

"Because we're going to get married, Tsunade."

"You're doing _WHAT?" _For the second time today, se was repeating herself. The Hokage just didn't know what else to say. First of all, she had a slacker as an assistant, a lazy bum who wasn't doing his best to finish his job in time. Secondly, she had spotted her smartest student all beat up. Thirdly, said student had disobeyed, something she never did before. And now this! How exactly had she made herself clear to those two idiots?

"Don't start again, sensei..." Sakura said.

"Now you two just wait a moment. Hadn't I told you to stay away from him, Sakura? And you..." she said, now turning to Sasuke, pointing her index finger to his chest, "didn't I tell you not to go and ask a girl just to get married before your birthday?"

"One, just because you said it, it doesn't mean we had and would do it." Sakura said, scratching her head exhaustedly.

"Good point, Sakura. Furthermore, I am allowed to choose whoever I want. _Law_ has it exactly that way, riight granny?"

"Don't you dare calling me that again, you impudent brat!" Tsunade exploded. "You don't love her, why did you choose her? She's in danger if staying with you!"

"How do you know my feelings towards her haven't changed, huh?" Sasuke yelled.

"I see the way you treat her! And why you, silly kid, baka Sakura agreed on the fastest way of your own destruction?"

"Why? Oh, let me think. Even if I didn't love him…He's handsome, gorgeous, I may even say, he's rich, he's the prince, we already had a relationship in the past and I want to see the look on Ino's face when she learns that I managed to marry Sasuke, while the best she could get was Shikamaru…Poor him, by the way…." Sakura said, her fingers on her chin. Tsunade's jaw had dropped,, and Sasuke's too.

"Is that really why you want to marry me?" He asked indifferently, with a hidden tone of worry in his voice.

"No, that would be if I didn't love you, silly! Right now, it's because I've never stopped loving you, from the first moment I saw you when I was five."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry to interrupt your little confession here, but I won't allow this marriage! I think I already told you why, _before_ you come right out front and ask me…" Tsunade said, seeing that Sasuke was about to protest, "that I don't want you Sakura close to him, and you, you Sasuke, I told you not to just go and choose a girl when your deadline's close!...The Haruno and Uchiha clans must never unite again!"

She brought her hand in front of her mouth with her last sentence, she shouldn't have said that. Sasuke was blinking indifferently and Sakura's jaw had dropped.

"Why so, sensei? Are you afraid that I may pass down the Razor Iris to a daughter with the Uchiha kekkei genkai?" Sakura said, and Tsunade immediately jolted.

"Shut up, Sakura! He can't know, he's not related to you! You've already taken it for granted; he's not your husband!"

"Yet." Sasuke's voice echoed like a thunder in the hall. "I am the prince, and even being the Hokage, I'm still your superior! And I demand that you will accept this marriage, either willingly or not! Did you hear me?"

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. That was really, _really, _his answer? What was he so eager for? He never showed a specific interrest in marriage, not even when they were close to have that tiny little thing together. What had made him change his mid so much? Or course, there was this part of him who wanted to truly fullfill the restoration of the clan, and to do that he certainly needed an heir. But either way, she would stay by his side and help him make his dreams come true, and because of that, she was willing to follow him in everything.

"And what if I don't want to?" Tsunade asked, although she knew that she had lost the game. Sasuke had brought up his strongest card, and besides, she herself was an awful gambler. No wonder she gained the title of the legendary sucker.

"You have no other choice, granny." he answered with a smirk playing upon his lips.

"Tch. Fine. But because we're in war right now, your wedding will be the same day as the Yamanaka and Nara families'. It's a law." The blonde Hokage emphasized the last word.

"And Iruka's and Shizune's." another voice added.

All three of them turned their heads to see. In front of them, at the wide doorstep, stood Jiraiya, his one hand on the knob and the other on his forehead.

"What did you say?" Tsunade asked.

"Iruka came and asked me if I could arrange a close date so that he can marry Shizune as soon as possible."

"Shizune-nee-san?" Sakura asked. Her beautiful green eyes were once again wide. "Do we know why she's not training with me anymore?"

"That's right, Jiraiya, did he tell you? She's stopped helping me for almost a month now." Tsunade said, hands on her waist.

"That's because she's _three months pregnant,_ as Iruka told me, going for the fourth. And before you ask me why they're in such a rush to get married, I'll simply say that it's because of you, dear princess." The white-haired pervert said, sending a playful look to his wife.

"He's determined to make her get tight-assed all the time in fornt of me?" Sasuke whispered to Sakura's ear.

"Dunno, maybe. Why, has he done it before?" Sakura asked back in a faint whisper.

"Many times." And with this whisper, Sasuke kissed Sakura's ear, surprising her to no end after the way he had treated her earlier that day.

"J...Jiraiya!" Tsunade said, annoyed but obviously satisfied with his compliment. "That's really offensive, you know. Why is it my fault, if you please?"

"Oh, because you assigned Iruka on the same mission with Raidou and Genma, maybe? He just said that it was a suicide mission, which is not in Iruka's level, but I made a little research and found out that you really _did_ assign him on this mission...Seriously now, princess, why exactly did you add him up in a squad which would try to ralease Anko and Kurenai?"

I did?" Tsunade wondered. She could not remember doing it, but then again, if both of them were saying that she did, maybe she did write down his name. "The papers had been sent and revised by the elders, right now, and in the situation we are, I cannot do much...I can't promise anything, tell him, but I'll try to replace him."

"And what about our wedding?" Sasuke asked.

"All the ceremonies will be performed in the ame day and hour. Do you have any problems with that, Sakura, Sasuke?" Jiraiya said and Sakura looked at Sasuke.

"You'll get on Ino's nerves..." he said, looking at her.

"Who cares? Do you want to wait more?" she asked, whispering. He smirkd, his smart obsidian eyes playing across her figure from the top of her head to her toes.

"Of course not. I want you mine as soon as possible." He replied, his honesty making Sakura smile. "No, we don't When will it be?"

"Saturday, if the hawk we sent to Suna arrives on Friday. If it's late, even if it's to come next week, it will be Sunday." Jiraiya answered. "And now that I think of it, I've predicted well your actions, because I included your wedding too in my report, youngsters."

"Wait a minute! I am the Hokage, dammit! Isn't _anyone_ taking into account MY words?" Tsunade asked, raising her voice. "ou promoted Hyuuga Neji to a field marshal, you talked to Inoichi and Shikaku to transfer the date they had chosen, you shortened Neji's deadline to bring us the new blades we need...What am I here for, huh? Just an ornament?"

"Dear, dear...Not every job is for women, princess..." Jiraiya said while passing his arm around her shoulders, having the other on his hitai-ate, "...and besides, honey, we're talking about wars and armies and weapons...It's not a job suitable for a princess."

Sakura and Sasuke burst out in laughter. That was a great effect amongst the other gifts of the Sannin, his utterly raw sense of humour. And the fact that he was to joke around even about his beloved princess made him even more courageous, for said princess was able to break all of a person's ribs with just one punch. And as they were going on with their laughter, the perverted Sannin shook hand for goodbye, took Tsunade from the hand and walked on out, waving to the guards and when his wife couldn't see him, gave a "thumbs up" to the dazed Sasuke and Sakura.

"And now it's just you and me..." Sakura said when he went for the doors and closed them.

WHAM, and the sound echoed all around, making Sakura's headache come back harder, and she brought her hands to her head again.

"Will you tell me now...What's this Razor Iris thing Godaime was talking about?"

She turned to him, tired of everything that was happening around her, and put her forefinger on his lips.

"I cannot until you're my husband. And even then, I've got the right to tell you only if I want." she said and then jolted surprised as he kissed her finger.

The cold surface of the wall embraced her back and it sent chills down her spine, Sasuke though didn't seem to bother and came closer, putting his one palm to the wall and, using his free hand, he lifted her chin.

"Oh yeah...? And who says so?" he whispered as onyx met emerald and some petal strands fell in her -paler than ever now- face.

"The laws of the House of the Hidden Petals" she answered, her tone almost as matter-of-facted as his usual one.

"I haven't even heard of that "house" as you call it." Sasuke whispered in her ear and Sakura shivered. She could feel his fingertips tracing her chin and collarbone, and a bead of sweat ran down to meet his hand. She was not afraid, only dead tired, and since she had no intention of telling him, she kneeled, passed down of his stretched hands and stood behind him.

"Wha--"

"I'm exhausted, Sasuke. Not only from your slap, but from my inner fights and sensei's lecturing...Can we leave it aside for the time?" She asked, enjoying the surprised look on his face.

"Duh, alright, alright, my bed's yours too from now on, you know where to find my room, so just drift off to it and sweet dreams." Sasuke replied, and she gave him a tired but genuine smile.

"If you're going to be that nice to me, I'll have to be a little strict. Someone of the two must be the harsh one, or else it's not SasuSaku." Sakura said and he caught her hand, pulling her in a tight embrace.

"That's gonna be me."

And he kissed her.

* * *

**WAH! I finished it...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Joyeux Noel, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad, Wesołych Świąt, Kurisumasu omedetto...That's all I know, so far. We've said it before, KanashimiAngel wants to be an interpreter. Oh well, c'est mon destine, n'est ce pas?**

**XD Alright, enough random randomness. Happy New Year, everyone, if I don't post up anything until the years changes.**


	24. Revealing Silence

**HEY GUYS AND GALS! How have you been holding on? I am so totally sorry that I haven't updated ANYTHING for such a looong looong time, I'm inexcusable, I know. School has been getting to me, and right now that I am uploading I am RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of my FINAL EXAMS...XD Sneaking off Algevra studying. XD Konoha Chronicles had its one-year anniversary yesterday, so HAPPY BDAY to my most worked-on fanfic! **

**Please read carefully through this one, it took me 28 pages to write it**

**I don't own Naruto**

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The dark figure of the captain of "Yoru no Koe" was clearly made out at the rudder, even behind the veil of mist. Silver eyes were piercing through, not needing a guy to be up in the pannier, yet just in case she had sent her navigator up, removing her from where the other woman preferred to stay, the rudder house. The sea was calm, the fog overflowed above it like icing on a cake. It was yet another peaceful night of their voyage.

"Captain." A voice echoed in the silence, and the person with the hood and cloak turned to face the man who spoke. "You've been up here for hours. Let me take control over it form now. Your guest needs to have some things explained, if I recall."

"Yes, Shino. Take over. Tell Hana to strengthen her guard, since my eyes will not be here now."

"Aye, captain."

The person dressed in dark purple loosened and closed her eyes, letting go of the huge rudder once Shino's hands were steady on it.

"Hinata-sama…" he said and she turned to face him.

"What is it, Shino?"

"Make sure that she gets some sleep…She really hasn't slept at all since the beginning of our voyage."

"…Hanabi…" Hinata whispered then nodded. "Alright, now take on." Turning her back to him, she left and went downstairs, her cape flapping in the air behind her. She walked on the steady wooden stairs and once she was completely down, she entered her cabin. Hanabi was there, sitting on the bed, between messes of bed sheets, looking out of the porthole to the sea. Her long black hair fell in her face, her silver eyes solemn. She didn't seem to notice that someone had entered, until Hinata had taken a few steps inside.

"Who is it again?" the girl's voice was soft and a bit watered, as if she had been crying.

"Turn your face to me, Hanabi. You are not talking with your backbone." Hinata said and sat down next to her sister. "Look at me." She spoke, taking off her hood.

Hanabi raised her head and looked at her, eyes widening. She brought her hands to her mouth to drown the scream that was born in her throat, and her back stuck to the wooden wall.

"Hinata-nee-san!" she whispered, not believing what she was seeing. "Y…You're alive?!"

"Why the hell would I not?"

"B…Because of that bad guy who kidnapped you…? The captain of…"

"I'm the captain, Hanabi. And the person who you consider bad is an angel compared to our father."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hanabi, please sit still and listen. What I've got to tell you is really important. And that's the reason you had to go away from _him,_ that's the reason I as your older sister have to protect you from everything." Hinata said.

"What do you mean, neesan?" Hanabi asked, her silver eyes glowing in the darkness. "What is it that father is doing that's so bad?"

"Do you remember your mother, Hanabi?" Hinata asked, and Hanabi shook her head negatively. "Father killed her."

"…What?"

"And my mother, and Neji-nii-san's as well, although he wasn't properly authorized back then. And every other woman who either was not Hyuuga, or was and brought about a child which had not Hyuuga blood…meaning she had it with some other man…"

"B…But why? Neesan's mother was Hyuuga too, wasn't she?"

"She was…But when she was pregnant with her second child, who would be my brother…Hiashi killed her. You know the story told of my mum, don't you?"

"The untold…That, she was forced into this marriage with father, and loved another man…?"

"That one. My mom was really young when it was decided that she'd marry Hiashi. She loved someone else, though…A man who was not Hyuuga….I'd only be nine months older than him, as you know; I've been born early, on seventh month. I heard some old ladies say that she got pregnant almost right after I was born, and…On the seventh month of _that_ pregnancy, they found out about her relationship with that other man and killed them both." Hinata said, her voice steady but not calm. "And he intended to that to me too. As well as you, if you strayed from that path."

Hanabi couldn't believe her ears. Her father could do such things? Should she feel lucky that he hadn't found out about her relationship, now, too?

"Konohamaru-kun…" she whispered with her hands in front of her mouth. "Hi…Hinata?"

"What is it? What are you thinking?"

"How…How did you know about these things?"

"Remember when you thought I was kidnapped?"

"What do you mean 'we thought'?"

"I wasn't. It was uncle, mom's brother, who took me away and saved me." Hinata said, playing with one single lock of hair that had loosened. "I've locked up my heart too, Hanabi."

"What do you mean neesan?" Hanabi asked, her eyes widening as a light blush covered her features. "I…"

"Come on Hanabi…A woman in love can tell when another one is in the same condition; especially when that one happens to be her own sister. And besides…" Hinata continued playing with that loose strand of her hair, "You yourself wanted to tell me, right?"

Hanabi lowered her head in confusion.

"Yes…"

"And we still have to be away from them…"

"But why, neesan why?! How is that any different from what our father tried to have us do? He wanted us to be away from them, and we ARE away from them! How is it any different?"

"There's this major difference, which settles it all. We may be away from them NOW, but they're still _alive_ there. And we're alive too. They're alive and NOT in danger of Hiashi going after their heads to kill them. If we were there, we should have been feeling guilty for our love, we should have been trying to hide our relationships and live lives full of lies…Not to mention that we'd, most likely, end up marrying someone that Hiashi would choose for us."

"…You convinced me…H…Hinata?"

"Mm?"

"I wanted to ask you…how is it to sacrifice your own love to save your pride and some title that was given to you just because it was comfortable for them to do so? How is it to deny your feelings for so long?" she asked with her eyes full of tears.

"Awful." Hinata replied.

- - -

- - -

The same time, at the stern of the ship, the rudder was in Shino's hands. Even though Kiba teased all the time, saying that his comrade and friend of years wasn't able to stay steady on a ship, he was the one who was falling all the time, and Hinata had decided to leave him in her place every time she couldn't be there to have the rudder. She had trust in Kiba's eyes and so most of the time she sent him up in the pannier. Shino's hands were steady on the giant wooden magnet, looking straight ahead.

"Hey, it's about time you went to rest. I'll take over now." Inuzuka Hana appeared, walking up the stairs. She had just switched from her position at the pannier with her brother and had come to take her place while their captain was busy.

"Don't worry; it has not been long since captain left me here. I can take more on." Shino said.

Hana leaned over the wooden back of the curved staircase and looked down to the deck; no one was out at this time of day. Everyone was sleeping; probably even their captain and her guest. The only people awake on that ship were her, her brother and Shino.

"Say Shino…My brother's really clumsy, isn't he?" she sighed after a few moments. "He fell off three times as he was climbing up the cape ropes…Had it not been for Akamaru, he'd be off in the sea."

"He's probably not used to it, yet. I remember when we were firstly formed into a squad, he was worse than captain with his jutsus; yet look at him now and you'll find absolutely no bond to those days. He's strong." He replied, kinda annoyed that she talked with _him_ about Kiba. She could talk about it with their mother, but…

"Strength isn't the only thing important, dear. Men…All so same, always seeking power…" she said with a playful smirk.

"He's got to find his balance." Shino continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. He's quite the fighter out on the ground, he only needs to get used to being here."

"Still after three years? Come on."

"How come you talk about him _to me_, all of a sudden?"

"Well, he always speaks of how good of a friend you are to him and what a great guy you are, and mother tells me all the time that I've got to find someone and get a life, and settle somewhere because a pirate ship is not a place for a girl my age…" Hana said, the tone on her voice purely out of boredom.

"And how exactly is that related to me? Shino said. Beneath his mask, a bleaching red shade had spread over his features, yet his voice was steady.

"Well, I did have someone back home, but…After I've lived all these years on this ship, I think I've taken quite the liking on you." She said, her eyes flying to him behind her back, to see his reaction.

"Calm down. You don't hit on someone open and out like that. Someone could get a heart-attack." Shino said. It was true that he wanted her too, and for much a longer time than she did, but being the "it's-not-easy-for-me-to-open-up" guy he was, he hadn't even let a hint of those feelings out.

"Old man Shibi sure would." Hana said, turned to face him and sat on the deck next to him, crossing her legs.

"That's as far as I can allow you to go. Don't speak like that when you're referring to my father." A drop of sweat was adorning his forehead, right next to the bone of his glasses.

"HANA! So you're up here, you silly girl! The captain has been looking everywhere for you, idiot!" Suddenly, Inuzuka Tsume's figure appeared on the stairs. "Didn't I tell you to come back f you weren't busy?"

"Oh mum! I'd be up here, I told ya!" Hana said and stood up. "What is it?"

"I don't know, the captain wants to see you. Move it!"

"Okay, okay, y' don't have to shout old lady!"

"Move your ass, pretty. We don't have all night!"

"Stop shouting!"

"You first!"

Shino sighed in relief as their footsteps and the sound of their voices disappeared. He could gather up is concentration peacefully again. His head felt dizzy; Hana's words were spinning in his mind. He remembered the first time he saw her, when he was eight, when Kiba had firstly taken him and Hinata to see his house and his parents. His eyes had firstly fallen on Hana. She was playing with her own dog, right in the middle of their living room. She was fifteen then, two years older than Hanabi was now. He had immediately felt an empty space in his stomach, as if his heart had fallen in his belly. But young as he was, he couldn't know that that feeling would be love. He understood it quickly enough though, when in his early years in the Ninja Academy Hana graduated and he saw her only when she came to pick up Kiba. He smiled now; her suggestion wasn't bad at all.

"Shino." He heard his father's voice call his name. A cold breeze was blowing and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, but the cool temperature had only now gotten him.

"Otosan…" he said and pulled the mask off his face.

"You'll catch a cold like that." Aburame Shibi said and tossed him a coat. "Wear it."

Shino grabbed the cloth in the air with one hand, and Shibi took hold of the rudder, so for his son to put on the warming clothing.

"Otosan…How old were you when you met mother?" Shino asked suddenly.

Shibi raised his eyebrows.

"Why do you ask? Is there any girl that you're interested in?" The old man had all the rights to wonder, there were only three, now four girls on the ship. And almost no one of them was "available". OS he really felt surprised, hearing something like that from Shino.

"Well…I just…wanted to know."

"Whether you're on the right age or not, right?" Shibi asked.

Shino's head shot up, but he immediately suppressed the urge to protest and lowered it again.

"Yes."

"I've been wondering for three years now when you'd ask." Shibi said and left the rudder to Shino again. The boy caught it quickly before he lost any balance, before it could turn over to one side or another.

"…Three years? You mean that…I should have asked that when I was sixteen?"

"Yes. At least that is the age, if not earlier, every other father was glad to see their sons like I see you now." Said the older Aburame. "Well, it's not like you had any chance to pick an interest in any girl on this ship. The three that existed…Are out of reach."

"And what if there was something between me and one of them?" Shino asked, suddenly feeling irritated. "Why would it be impossible?"

"With who could it be, then, Shino, think! With Hinata-sama? Not only she's the captain, but a Hyuuga as well. Do you think they'd let you in the clan so easily? Then it's Tsume-san, and she's off limits and I think you can understand why. That leaves-"

"Then there's Hana, Otosan, and that's her. She feels this way too, and I don't think anything can change that."

- - -

* * *

- - -

"Shikamaru! Are you ready yet? They'll be here any time now!" Nara Yoshino's voice echoed through the rooms of the house. Shikaku, sitting in his armchair, closed his eyes and sighed, always his troublesome wife and his even more troublesome son fighting…

"Dammit, mom, shut up! It's not like Godaime is going to visit anyway…"

"You idiot! This is even more important!"

"A dinner with Ino's family? That's almost routine!"

"It's _different_ today, Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass up and get dressed!"

"Shut up, old hag! There's not way in hell I'm gonna wear that!"

"Shikamaru!" Shikaku's voice struck like a thunder, covering both the other two voices. "Don't you dare talk to your mother like that again! Wear your clothes, and apologize!" he said, still in his armchair, head leaning back.

"Oh dear, don't worry, it's no big deal…"

"It might not be for you, but he's got to learn manners."

"Like you're one to talk!" Shikamaru shouted from inside his room as he was changing. He had a hunch, a feeling that something wasn't right. He could tell it was nothing in Konoha, but he really believed that something was wrong, or it would go wrong in short time. He only hoped it wouldn't be much of a trouble for him…

"You impudent brat! Shut your mouth and come out right away!" he heard his father's reply as the bell was ringing.

"Dammit…" he murmured as he tied the belt around his dark green hakama and threw a look down himself. "….I look like a cucumber…" He moved his fingers from the cloth and walked out of his room. Greetings and laughter were already audible from the hall. "Oh, boy.."

"Shikamaru!!" a sea of yellowish blonde hair fell his face as Ino threw herself in his embrace, tightly wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I've already missed you so much!" she squealed as Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head along with Shikaku.

"Still and always our little happy Ino, eh, Inoichi?" Shikaku said as the blond man patted him at the back.

"Ino, get off! You'll drown me!"

"Ino-chan, welcome! Your dress is so lovely…Don't mind Shikamaru's attitude, he's just nervous." Yoshino grabbed her son from the shoulders and placed Ino's hand on Shikamaru's.

"Ah, Yoshino-san, it's so nice to see you again! Don't worry, I'm used to Shikamaru being mean…He's acting like a little kid; it's so funny!" Ino said with a wide smile and dragged Shikamaru along as she followed his mother to the kitchen.

"Ah, Yoshino, your hands have created wonders again! It's such a nice view to the eyes, this…" Inoichi said as he came in too after then Nara kid.

"Oh, Inoichi, don't flatter her that much, she'll get used to it…" Shikaku spoke before Yoshino could offer her response.

"Yes, like I have the chance to hear such words much…" Yoshino said as they were taking their seats. "No, no, no Ino-chan, not there! Your seat is next to Shikamaru!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Ino said with an apologizing smile on her face. Shikamaru slapped his forehead and looked over at Ino's mother, who hadn't spoken a word from the moment she had entered. She only stood and now sat quietly next to Yoshino, while Inoichi and Shikaku were sitting each on the top sides of the table.

"Um…Mrs. Yamanaka…" Shikamaru said. The older woman raised her eyes to him "Why haven't you, erm, spoken so far?"

"And what to say, dear Shikamaru? Since no one has addressed a sentenced to me, why should I interfere with other's conversations?" she replied quietly.

"_That's a very nice wife you've got yourself, Inoichi-san…__Quiet and not troublesome at all…"_ he thought to himself, but the next moment the image of Temari carrying her sick son panicked crossed his mind. He closed his eyes tightly and supported his head on his palm, mentally slapping himself. What was he thinking? Temari was so far away from him, and besides the certain time he was supposed to be present at a dinner with his fiancée and their families, and not daydream of a woman who he happened to have a relationship with at the past. And only a month ago he had been with her at her house, on a futon, with her…

"Oh boy…" he whispered.

- - -

- - -

In the same time, deep in the forest surrounding the kingdom of Konoha, where Tenten had built her workplace; and now home, the men she had with her were all around the hideout, trying to cover the boxes with the unfinished blades, because a storm was approaching. Tenten herself was inside, working herself out in the effort to make every new blade sharper and even more efficient than all its anterior.

"Tenten-sama!" a voice distracted her and for a moment she lost her concentration, yet that moment was enough; the newly produced blade slipped slowly on her slender fingers, diving in her skin. A little voce left her lips as the metal blade fell to her feet; scarlet drops dripping down her wrist.

"Dammit…" she cursed behind gritted teeth. "What do you want?" she asked the man who had interrupted.

"There's a hawk with a message from Hyuuga-sama."

"WHAT?! And you're still standing? Bring it here immediately!" Tenten said.

"It's here, my lady." The man said and Tenten took the piece of paper in her hands in the glimpse of a eye.

"Leave now and don't let anyone bother me until I come out!"

Her urgent will to open the letter and read it, jus to see his handwriting again made her impatient. The paper flickered as she unfolded it, staining it with her blood in her rush. Soon after, Neji's gentle and clear handwriting was revealed, informing her that he'd need her help again as soon as possible. At the end of his formal text, the post scriptum was in smaller characters.

"_I am missing you more and more every day, Ten. I can't take it, time at a time I close my eyes and bring on the memories of that night…When will I see you again? When will __you come, when? Hiashi's at his last days; and I bet he's the only reason you can't come and live in Konoha. He knows he's dying, he's making my days worse and worse. Hanabi was taken away too. There is no one here left for me to talk to…I was careless and irresponsible, and I lost her too. I need your help, Tenten. I need you here by my side, I need you to hold my hand, I need you. I miss you. I love you. Please, please tell me that we're going to see each other soon…" _

Tenten's eyes were filled with tears. She got that feeling every time she received a letter from him. Neji was so gentle with his words, his manners, his actions, his everything. The piece of paper was wet by not only her blood now but her warm tears as well. She held it tightly in her hands whispering "I love you too..." as she got out checking on the blades that were already done. She didn't mind whether they were many or not, he himself had told her that it wouldn't bother anyone. So it was alright. They were few, yet really effective, and it was a product of her own hard-working hours, and she knew that Neji would appreciate them anyway.

"Neji…" she whispered, looking at her resemblance on the blades. A thousand triangle mirrors, shooting her look back at her. "When should I go? Where again? How long will he be able to stay with me…" she wondered, but couldn't go on for more as another hawk, silver this time, with golden fangs and a dark purple ribbon wrapped around the paper it carried. It came and stood on her shoulder, and Tenten took the paper. She already knew, before she opened it, who had sent it and what it was about. Soon enough she'd have to stand up as the Golden Cloud once more.

Speaking of which…The furrowed clouds over her head started pouring down, washing away her thoughts but not her troubles.

- - -

* * *

- - -

And yet at the same time of the day, in a distance three days far from Konohagakure and its woods, in a kingdom deep in the desert, Sabaku no Temari was playing with her son at their poor garden, trying to forget about the thing that she had found out in the morning. She gave in to her son's every pleading, took him to the tree they had set up a swing, they played with a ball (Eiji as pretty much acting like a puppy), with her few flowers, they planted a few more, she bathed and they played hide and seek, and now that it was dark, she decided to take him in, finally.

"Come on now, Eiji. Time to go inside. You've got to take a bath and Matsuri's already on her way." Temari said, picking her son up. Four months had passed from the last time she had played with Eiji like that, yet it was almost the exact same scenery. She hoped that Shikamaru wouldn't show up suddenly again, but at least this time Matsuri would be with her. He wouldn't be able to do anything this time. Yet with the thought of it, she immediately felt something crawl in her stomach, butterflies in her heart…her hands embraced her belly as she watched Eiji place his toys in the box he used to store them and then he ran to her and jumped.

"Matsuri-nee is coming! Matsuri-nee is staying for the night!"

"Hey, hey, no jumping in mum's embrace now, ne?"

"Eh?" Eiji looked at her surprised. "Why?"

Temari sighed and looked at the stars which were already visible, and then took a deep breath, looking at him again.

"You didn't get hurt mum, did you? You seem a little bigger.." Eiji said, his big sea-colored eyes wide opened with the innocence of a child his age.

"No, no sweetie. I'm not hurt at all. You're pretty dirty, though, little fellow. Sure you don't want to stain mum too, do you?" she said as she playfully tickle his nose.

"Heehee! No, I want not, mum! I'm going straight to bath! When Matsuri comes, don't tell her where I was!"

"Okay, now, go on little prince!"

Eiji walked in the house singing happily and Temari let out a sigh of relief, placing one hand over her forehead. She felt a little warmer, but then again, it was natural, in her condition. She followed her son inside and sat down on her couch, hugging a pillow, and waiting. _"At least I'm not fainting all the time or getting dizzy…"_ she thought and she noticed that even at this late she hadn't picked up the plates they ate their breakfast on. She felt too bored to stand up and do it though; she'd do it the next morning…Probably.

The doorbell rang, taking her out of her thoughts.

"Who?" She asked, shouting to the direction of the door.

"Matsuri." The reply came.

"The door is open…Come in!" Temari said and in a second, Matsuri had stepped in and closed the door behind her. The two girls smiled at each other and Matsuri took a seat next to Temari.

"Where's Eiji?"

"He's bathing, but pretend you don't know, I said I wouldn't tell you."

"Oh, conspiracy!"

"Sort of…"

"Heh. Well, anything new…From two days ago?" Matsuri asked with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I guess there is something…" Temari said indifferently.

"Temari-san, are you alright?" The happiness in Matsuri's eyes was immediately replaced by a worrying expression.

"I'm just as fine as you are. There're just two little problems residing."

"What kind of-"

"Matsuri-nee-san!" Matsuri was cut off on her words by Eiji's happy scream as he ran towards them; full of happiness. "Matsuri-nee, Matsuri-nee!" he squealed and jumped in Matsuri's wide open arms. "I missed you!"

Matsuri kissed him on the forehead. "I missed you too, little bright angel!"

"Ano, ano! See mum? Matsuri-nee-san doesn't have a problem if I jump in her embrace!" Eiji said, bright in his happiness and light green sleeping yukata.

"My tummy aches…" the brunette girl said and they both burst out in laughter. Temari smiled and crossed her fingers over her own tummy.

"Yes, of course she doesn't, now that you're all clean and fresh…"

"Mum!"

"Okay, okay…"

"Will you sleep with me tonight, Matsuri?" Eiji asked her, smiling.

"You'll sleep with us in the room, ne, Temari-san?" Matsuri asked the older girl.

"What else can I do? Since you two are so tightly bound to each other…Have you eaten yet, Matsuri?"

"Ah, yes. I went out with Gaara-sensei-"

"Aha!"

"-and Kankurou-san!" Matsuri said with a heavy blush on her face. Temari's piercing eyes seemed as if she was x-raying her. "I couldn't, in no way…"

"Calm down, silly. I know you wouldn't dare to!" Temari smiled. "It's fine by me, anyway. I'll go prepare the futons, since we have already eaten too." She said and stood up, putting some effort. The pillow slipped from her arms to the floor and Matsuri and Eiji watched her as she took small steady steps to go to the staircase and up to their room.

"Do you think there's something wrong with mum, Matsuri-nee-san?"

Matsuri looked at him. Even if something was indeed wrong with Temari; which certainly was, she didn't know whether she was the right person to tell Eiji anything, and there was even the possibility that Temari would like to tell it herself. Temari was unpredictable, she kept her secrets well hidden and unless she herself wanted to reveal them, she left no hints at all.

"Ready, come up!" Temari's voice was suddenly heard and they both stood up, and walked upstairs holding hands,

"Wow…that's a really nice yukata, Temari-san!" Matsuri said, seeing the cloth Temari had folded over the futon prepared for her.

"It's the only one that would fit you, since you're smaller than me."

"Mm, it's beautiful…" the girl said and Eiji jumped up and down.

"It's green too! It's green too! It looks like mine!"

"Calm down kid! You've kicked the sheets, the covers, my legs…" Temari said as she grabbed her son and tickled him a bit.

"I'm sorry mum, I didn't want to hit you! I'll be a good boy!" he said and laid down peacefully next to his mother. Right next to theirs, Temari had stretched the other futon for Matsuri, who was now sitting, wearing the beautiful light yukata. "Uwaaaii! You look like a princess, Matsuri-nee-san!"

The girl smiled as she was laying down. Temari blew out the candle in the paper frame near them and darkness filled the room, the only source of light being the window, wide open, curtains hanging parted at its sides. The little boy yawned and said goodnight, wished both sweet dreams and soon e drifted off to sleep in his mother's embrace, thumb in his mouth, like every other child in his age.

"Ano sa, Temari-san…is he asleep?"

"Yeah, he can't take much on, once he's down, he's sleeping."

"What kind of problem was that you were talking about?" Matsuri asked. "Eiji seems to have noticed something's not right, but I didn't dare trying to explain anything, since I didn't know…"

"Matsuri…I wanted to tell toy, I need to get it off of me…"

"Is there something wrong with your health? You're scaring me."

"No, I'm as healthy as you are…The problem is elsewhere. I'm three and a half months pregnant." Temari whispered.

Matsuri brought her hand over her lips. "R-really? That much?"

"Uh huh…"

"But when…?"

"Four months ago, Gaara had sent Shikamaru to 'talk some sense into me', because I was acting 'unreasonable' and 'weird'. And he told him to ask to stay here, because it was really late….And it happened."

"…Just like that?"

"No…I didn't want to, but somehow…he even made me tell him what happened with that Itachi…And he said that he wouldn't mind to be Eiji's step father, and he embraced me, and…and…" Temari whispered. "…I don't know what I was thinking, but it happened, and now I am as I am…" she said with a sigh. Her eyes were gliding in the darkness; Matsuri could tell that she was about to cry.

"What are you gonna do now?"

"Need you ask? I'll keep it of course. I can't even think of that other choice, I hate it. I cannot do it, besides, think of the others. They're already making a fuss about me and other men, which is not true at all. If I go to the Medical Centre for an abortion…I'm dead meat. And hell, I give not a damn, but Eiji…I don't want him to think that way of me when he grows up, or to feel ashamed for his mother."

"You're right…And I think that he'd love the idea of another sibling."

"There are one or two things that worry me, though… Gaara and Kankurou, and if I should tell Chiyo-baa about it…"

"That's right…Gaara-sensei and Kankurou-san don't even know about Eiji..."

"And something more…As far as I remember, when I was pregnant with Eiji, at three months' time I didn't feel that heavy…Maybe it's just my imagination, maybe I don't remember well, but I really feel larger now…" Temari said.

"Maybe you've got twins, or…triplets?"

"What? But that would be a problem, a major one!"

"Why?"

"Because…What are you asking, Matsuri? First of all, Shikamaru doesn't even know a thing; moreover, we live in kingdoms that are enemies! It will be considered treachery to Suna, and I will be exiled, if the war is not over by the time I give birth to them…If they're two, or three, that is…"

"Why be that bad? Why do the laws have to be so strict?"

"Ask your dear sensei. He's only following them though; everything was settles by the previous Kages…s it is, while we're in was he can only create new ones and not cancel any of those who already exist…."

"That's cruel."

"I know."

"…We've got to sleep now, don't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Goodnight, Temari-san."

"Sweet dreams, Matsuri."

The night was small, as summer was already there, and the morning came pretty quickly. Matsuri had a pretty weird dream; she saw Temari, Eiji, herself and Gaara at a beach of some sorts, and then a huge wave came and covered them, and then suddenly they were inside Gaara's ultimate sand defense…And then Gaara was fighting with _their_ Leader…And Chiyo was fighting against Gaara, and then suddenly she woke up, sunbeams in her eyes, playing with her eyelashes. She looked at the clock on the wall; eight thirty. Whoa. That sure was…Well, her earliest time waking up. Usually, she'd sleep really late, and wake up even more late. Yet something told her that she couldn't sleep more this time, and maybe it was the atmosphere in Temari's house, maybe it was Eiji, maybe this noise, like someone was knocking on the front door…

"Wait, what?"

She lifted herself from the futon, put on her shoes and went to open the door. The knocks had become persistent, harder, rushed.

"Coming, coming…" she murmured. When she had gone over the last step, she rushed and opened the door.

"Oh, Matsuri, what are you doing here, girl? Is Temari not here again?" Chiyo was standing at the doorstep, and once Matsuri opened the door she didn't hesitate and came in.

"Ah, no, no. She's upstairs, sleeping." Matsuri said. "How is it that you're here so early, Chiyo-sama?"

"Leader of the Houses sent me a letter with the ate of your next meeting…And it's close, really close."

"Like?"

"One week from now."

"WHAT?" _Dammit._ That's what she had felt with her dream? Temari was right with her hunches all the time, was it for her to start being like this too? And now that they'd both have to leave, what would they say to Gaara? And…was it alright for Temari to travel in high speed in her condition? And Eiji, would they take him with them, or would they leave him behind with Chiyo again..?

"Who is it, Matsuri?" Temari's voice was heard, suddenly breaking the silence. Matsuri looked up, waking in time from her thinking and raised her eyes up to see the blonde kunoichi walking down the stairs, her son in her embrace, still sleeping.

"Ah, you're awake, Temari/ Good. I was just telling Matsuri that the next meeting of the Houses is in one week. You'll need to leave today, even, to be there in time." Chiyo addressed to the older of the younger girls.

"Is that so?...I knew something like this would happen…Well, I guess I don't have any other choice, I'll have to take this little journey…"

"But, Temari-san, what about-"

"Matsuri!" Her fierce, sea-colored eyes shot her a look that frightened her. Eiji turned side in his mother's embrace as Matsuri and Temari exchanged looks.

"Sorry, I forgot…"

"It's alright…just be careful if you think of it again."

"Just a minute young ladies…What is going on here?"

"Nothing at all, Chiyo-baa. I just…want to take Eiji with me."

"What? What are you thinking, how will you take him out of this house without anyone seeing him? How will you justify his presence to Leader?"

"I'll manage."

"How, exactly, that's the point! And…What exactly has happened to your body? Are you sick?"

"No."

"Will you tell her?" Matsuri whispered to Temari, but she shook her head no. "Then…"

But Matsuri was never able to finish her sentence. The door was opened, since Chiyo hadn't closed it behind her when she came, and now, Gaara and Kankurou were standing on Temari's doorstep.

"Oh…" she whispered putting her hands in front of her lips. "Temari-san…

"It's alright Matsuri…There's no other choice; not anymore…" Temari said calmly, a sigh escaping her lips.

"What's going on here?" Kankurou asked, seeing the dazed look of the women standing in his sister's hall. "What's the meaning of this? Why are you all gathered in here?"

"One by one the questions, Kankurou." Chiyo scolded him.

"Temari…I don't care about this 'gathering' in here, just….Who is the one you're holding?"

"Oh yeah, that too. Who's that blond brat?"

"Brat, my ass…"

"Temari!" Chiyo said.

"What? It's not enough for them that I'm called a bitch out there? Like I've lived not for Suna but just for sleepovers, crazy nights and hangovers? Do they have to curse my son now, too?"

"It's your fault and your own actions that brought such rumors to spread!" Kankurou yelled.

"Yeah, like you two were ever with me to ask for the slightest bit of advice or help! I was raped, I gave birth to him all alone, I raised him alone and I never dared to tell you, or ask your help, never let out anything or complain…For what? To see and hear even you two, my brothers, talking to me like I'm any common wench! I'm such a fool…" Temari said loud, unable to control herself. Eiji woke up scared an started crying, clinging to her, grabbing tightly on her yukata.

"Mum…mum…mommy…"

"Shh…It's okay sweetie, I'm here, I'm here…" Temari shot a glance at her brothers as she kissed her son's forehead.

"I'm scared mum…Don't shout like that…"

Matsuri brought her hands to her lips again, tearful.

"Eiji…" she whispered.

"So you're saying that this is your son…And you've been raped? When? Why didn't you tell us?" Gaara spoke.

"Three year ago, when I was coming back from Konoha. If I had told you back then, with the attitude I had, you wouldn't even sit to listen. It was my fault, I know. But tell me honestly, if I came to you like that and told you, would you believe me?" Temari said, patting her son in the back to calm him.

Gaara's invisible eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes were tightly shut. He was thinking of his answer, but Kankurou decided to answer first.

"What if we did, sis? Word had it that you had hooked up with that Nara kid too. So here's my question now. Whose child is this?"

"Dammit, you're so like him… you even ask the same questions!"

"Yeah, but obviously he asked because he wanted to know whether this brat's his or just another bastard!" Kankurou had crossed the line. Gaara looked up to him, Matsuri let out an incoherent word and Chiyo brought her hand to her chest, up to her heart. As for Temari, she looked at her brother with eyes half-closed, shooting him a look as if she could kill him with.

"Don't ever step into my house again. Out. Out of here! Out and don't come back, don't ever speak to me if you don't apologize first! You impudent bastard!" Temari was afraid of this. Losing her temper in front of Eiji was the last thing she needed, yet her brother seemed to be itching to bring her to her limits. Her son was still whimpering a bit, so she didn't raise her voice. Yet the curse flowed out of her mouth before she was able to keep it in.

"That's the only thing you're good for. Fighter…like, what? Wind mistress, my ass! You know, they say those in lead of a land are always wrong and the people of it right…I think our people are right too. You're really a bitch. And I'll leave this rotten house of yours with pleasure. Like I want to stay more in a place like this. I bet you did it in here too. Who can tell me otherwise?"

"Kankurou!"

"Kankurou!"

"Kankurou-san!"

"Leave him be." Temari said, hugging her son tighter. "He's just an immature, selfish and self-possessed imbecile. He's not even worth talking to."

"Dare you call yourself my sister again and you'll see what happens!" Kankurou yelled and walked out of the house, bumping the door close behind him.

"Now that the spirits are down, I think I can answer your question, Temari. I don't know what I'd do if you told me that you've been raped back then. It's alright with me if you yourself whose child this boy is, but how come you're pregnant again? I think you can answer _this_ question? Gaara said, his arms crossed on his chest. Matsuri looked at Temari with eyes wide open, how did Gaara know? Was it so obvious?

"What?" Chiyo asked and she turned to Temari. "Is that true? When did you…?"

"What's pregnant, mum?" Eiji asked, calmer than before now, feeling safe in his mother's arms.

"Oh, well…" Temari let out a sigh as she had to face three difficult questions at once. "Gaara, this happened when you had sent Shikamaru to rest here for the night. Had Kankurou been here, he'd say how's that any different from what a whore's paid to do…But I didn't want it to happen. He saw Eiji, the first time he came here…And at that time, four moths ago, Eiji was ill. I threw Shikamaru out, practically kicked him to be left alone…Chiyo-san, as you heard, it's true. Three and a half months. And Eiji—"

"That's impossible." Chiyo said. "You're too large to be just on the third month, even third and a half, or fourth."

"You mean she probably has twins?" Gaara asked, his brows furrowed once again.

"Maybe even triplets, although that's really rare to happen, especially to a woman living under the climate and circumstances Temari does. But she definitely has twins, there's no lone child that big just on the third month." The older woman replied.

"Even if it's that way, I want to keep them." Temari said.

"Even if you wanted otherwise, it's too late to be thinking of an abortion, much too dangerous because they're twins, too." Chiyo informed her.

"There's no reason to even talk about that! She said she wants to keep them, didn't she?" Matsuri spoke at last.

"You do realize though what this means, Temari?" Gaara asked her.

"Gaara! Make an exception for your sister, child!"

"Gaara-sensei, no!"

"I can't. The law is absolute. I hoped I'd never need to say this to one of them, or you, Matsuri, but…You have to leave, Suna, Temari. You can no longer stay here as its resident. You can chose any other kingdom you want to go and live to, but you can't stay here."

"I know this all, Gaara. Remember, I was the one who wrote the terms of war…And, since the meeting is in one week, too…" Temari whispered. "I'll go pick up my things. Don't follow." She said the last sentence to Matsuri, who was ready to set foot after her. "I need some time alone with my son.:

:You know, Gaara, that's really no good at all. Where will she go now? In her condition?" Chiyo scolded him.

"Chiyo-sama is right, Temari0san can't be left alone like that! And what about her house?"

"Would you two be quiet for just a moment?" Do you think I didn't think of all these? I've been thinking of this visit, even, I had a bad feeling about it and didn't want to come but Kankurou dragged me. This only counts for as long as the war is still out there. When it's over, Temari can always return here if she wants. Her house won't even be out for sale; it doesn't need to. However, if Chiyo-san or you, Matsuri, can take care of it while she's gone, that's be better for her." Gaara said.

"I'll ask her…If I can stay here while she's away…" Matsuri spoke in a low tone, so silent that only Gaara heard her.

Upstairs now, in her bedroom, Temari was trying to fit the needed clothes in a small bag; she didn't want to have much weight on her, she'd be carrying Eiji and her fan too. In the end, most of the clothes in the bag were Eiji's and not hers, but that was not a bother to her.

"Mum, will we be going somewhere?" Eiji asked, thumb on his lips, sitting on the floor where hismother had left him. "Why?"

"Did I tell you that we're in a war with another kingdom?"

"No."

"Well, we are. And we've got to leave for a bit…To be safe."

"So that we won't get hurt?"

"Yes."

"And where will we go?"

"First, we'll go finish some business mum has, and afterwards, we'll see." Temari answered. Eiji stood up and took a few steps towards her. He looked at how fast but tidy his mother could be at times, when she wanted to.

"Mum?"

"Nn?"

"What did baachan say about twins? What's that?"

"That dear…" Temari sat on the floor and took her son in her embrace, "…is when a woman has two babies in her belly. Like mum does, probably."

"Why are they in there?" Eiji asked, his eyes wandering with curiosity around his mother's body. "How do they fit in there, why can't I see them?"

"Right now, they're really small. They're in here, sleeping, until they grow up enough to come out and live on their own, like you."

"And how did they get in there?" The blond boy asked, curiosity emerging from his big eyes.

Temari looked at him as she dragged the bag closer. Standing up, she took his hand in hers, throwing the bag over her shoulder.

"That's a question you're still way young to know its answer. But if wanna know, you were like that too, once."

"You carried me in your belly, mum?"

"Mm."

"And now we're leaving?"

"Guess so. We'll come back sometime, though, don't worry." She said and opened the door, then lifted him in her embrace and walked out of her room. The futon mattresses she had laid last night on the floor were still there, on the wooden tatami, unfolded, the covers all around. "Come, we're off." She thought and walked out of her room, shutting the shoji door closed behind her.

When she got downstairs, Matsuri was crying .All three of them had sat down around the low table in her living room; Gaara was patting Matsuri's back who was crying in his embrace. Chiyo was talking, probably to both of them, but she could hear only a few of the things being told.

"…besides you'll be traveling together for a whole week, and who knows how much that meeting of the Houses is going to last? Your goodbye's still far off, you know."

"Y…yes, but, still…It's…"

"You know, that's really true, what you were told by Chiyo-baa-sama. You won't have to say goodbye so early, Matsuri, we've got at least one more week together." Said the blonde kunoichi, leaving the bag on the floor. "Maybe you should go fix up your things too. We've got to leave, sooner or later, to reach the place of the meeting in time."

"I've got everything I'll need here, with me, Temari-san." Matsuri said with a sigh.

"Then we can leave as we are. Chiyo-baa, will you be coming with us?"

"No, not this time, girl. And you'd better leave this boy behind."

"I won't."

"Wait a minute. What on Earth is this meeting of the Houses you've been talking about?"

Temari, Matsuri and Chiyo looked at each other, Matsuri somehow feeling guilty that they couldn't tell him.

"That is something that not even you, who are the Kazekage can't know. Even as Temari's brother and Matsuri's mentor….I'm sorry, but you're too young to understand, and most importantly, you're a man. It's deep secret between the women of the Houses." Chiyo decided to inform him before he protested more. In reality she told him nothing but, at least those few were harmless.

"Is it like Konoha's Silver Fog, or whatever it was called?"

"How do you know about the Silver Fog?" Temari asked, her eyes focused on her brother's face. "What do you know about it?"

"I know just the name…that it was a title given to Hyuuga Hanabi after that Hinata girl was kidnapped, and I thought there was something about their bloodline limit…But as it seems, it's more. Way more."

"No matter how it is, girls, you've got to leave immediately. There's barely time for you to reach the place, and all we're doing here is delaying you. Go. Take your things and go. Matsuri, I will be waiting for your report when you return. And I hope that this time, your Leader will help you and you will help him achieve what we all long for." Chiyo interrupted and shook her head.

"A. We got to get going. Gaara, I hope you'll find a new messenger quickly. Oh, and…This came yesterday morning. It says that they have some weddings and they're pleading us not to attack on those days, or something, I didn't read it all. You can write back to them now if you want. I'm not of authority anymore." Temari said, giving him the letter. Gaara unfolded the thin paper and read through the lines.

"Temari…Where do you plan to go afterwards?" he asked his sister holding the paper in one hand. "If you plan to go to Konoha…"

"What I'll do is my own decision to take. But I will go there. I want to find out about Uchiha Itachi and that someone who had been killing people from both kingdoms. Don't worry, I won't tell those of Konoha our army's secrets. Besides, I don't even know if I'll be staying there…"

"Did you read this? It states the names of those being married…And I think that just one is in your interest…Listen, all of you." He said and read through the letter again, this time loud, for them to hear him.

"_Dear Kazekage, Lady Temari, Lord Kankurou_

_We would like to inform you of a wedding ceremony which will be held in our kingdoms, to turn into families the following couples:_

_Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura_

_Umino Iruka and Shizune_

_Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino_

_We ask for your comprehension and we plead that you do not send your men against us for those days. For the sake of those young people and the families to be made."_

"Sakura-nee and Sasuke-san?" Matsuri asked, scratching her forehead. "Hadn't the Iris told us that she was exiled?"

"Seems like she was taken back in…Temari said, her eyebrows furrowed. Her hands were shaking though, and her fingers had a tight grip on the bag she held. "But Shikamaru…He's getting married, as it seems…" she whispered, but Matsuri was the only one who heard her.

"Temari-san…Will you…Tell him, you know." She whispered into the older girl's ear.

"How? How can I ever tell him? Especially now!"

"But Konoha's on our way and we can stay there while we wait for the Iris and the Cloud to pack their things and get going; you can-"

"Matsuri…Please don't make it more difficult than it already is. It's my own decision, and besides you heard it, he's marrying Ino." Temari said, her hand covering her shoulder. She looked down at her son, who was standing with his thumb in his mouth, a three-year-old kid looking around him, trying to understand what the older people in the room were talking about. She looked at him and sighed, what if Shikamaru was really his father? Then, would it be right for her to keep him away from the little blond boy, and the twins? It wouldn't be fair for him. They were their children, of them both, he had to know, even if she still wasn't sure if Eiji was his or Itachi's.

She felt her hand shaking and looked down, Eiji was moving his own one, looking up to see her.

"Won't we be going?"

"Ah, yes…Matsuri, take your things, we're leaving."

"Uh huh…Temari-san, do you want me t carry him?"

"Don't worry, I can do it."

"But…"

"Matsuri."

"…"

"Temari" Gaara stopped her as she walked out of her door.

"What is it?"

"Please, no matter what you decide…Take care of yourself. I really want you back, sometime." He said, his eyes looking seriously in her own ones.

"Suna will need more of your attention, now that I'm gone. Don't let Kankurou's rush and attitude corrupt you. I don't mind his harsh words—"

"Don't lie to me."

"It doesn't have bones, but it utters bone-breaking words…"

"His puppets or his tongue?"

"Second."

"We don't make sense."

"I know…" Temari said. "I'm not so coherent anymore."

"You're pregnant, what did you expect? The next month your hormones will hit maximum. You've got to get used to it as soon as you can, so that you don't feel awful in those days.. You'll get-"

"Dizzy, nauseous, warmer and uncomfortable when I want to sleep. I know these things, Chiyo-baa, I've already given birth to one child…" Temari said, holding Eiji's hand tighter. "And back then, I was all alone, and it was the first time I'd be in such a situation. I'm not saying that I know everything about it, compared to you or even every new medic nin you're training, I know nothing."

"Then take great care, especially now that we don't know the number of those you carry."

"You make it sound like there're hundreds or thousands of them." Gaara said.

"One for every male she's befriended ever she's started dating."

Everyone's heads turned to the direction of the voice. At the doorstep stood Kankurou, arms crossed in front of his chest, but behind the paint on his face, you couldn't tell what his expression was like.

"That's not funny." Gaara said, walking towards him.

"So you've been there all the time. Figures." Temari murmured. Eiji looked up to his mother's face, eyes full of curiosity. "You're still such a kid, Kankurou…"

"So what if I am? Better than growing up early, sis. If you get my point."

Matsuri blushed and Gaara looked disgusted up over the heads at the ceiling and Eiji was obviously ready to ask.

"Kankurou! Now child, if that's why you've come back in, leave." Chiyo said.

"I don't know if you have noticed, Kankurou, but apart from adolescents in here there's a _child_ too! I may be the one who's got to work on how I'll speak in front of each kingdom's royalty, but you dear brother, you have a serious problem with your MANNERS!" Temari said, a little louder than her usual tone. Lifting her son in her embrace, without checking whether her fan was with her, she stepped out at her garden and headed for the road.

"Temari-san, wait!" Matsuri shouted. "Uh, um…I've got to go now, too, Gaara-sensei. I'll…do my best to protect her…All of them! And I'll try to be back as soon as possible so that we can finish my Jounin training, I promise!"

"Don't rush. Just be careful on your way back, you'll be alone." Gaara replied.

"I'll give it my best shot."

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**Phewh...Don't you dare get away without a review! Okay, I beg you. I'm inexcusable for not updating for 5 months, but now I humbly ask for your reviews...I WAS ON A HIATUS TT.TT **


	25. Closing the Distance I

**Thank you guys who reviewed even after my half-a-year late update... I really appreciate your support! Completely objectively, miss QuietMoon is my best reviewer ever. Since she started reading, there hasn't been a single chapter that she wouldn't review. To be honest, I wait for her reviews anxiously each time I update'**

**I do not own Naruto…But Itachi would still be alive if I did.**

**'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'**

Sakura had woken up feeling a twitch at her stomach, that day. The previous night, sleeping next to Sasuke hadn't felt comfortable at all. Even though it was a week since she had moved in with him, and with the help of remembering their old times together, she thought she had grown used to the fact of sleeping next to him, feeling the warmth of his body, hearing his slow breathing…It amazed her how peaceful he looked when he was asleep; how slow his inhales and exhales were, in contrast with when he was awake, much more with when he was in battle or training. He looked more like the hurt and abandoned, selfishly isolated and even misunderstood child he hid inside him. He was forced to become an adult with cruelty at the tender age when all the other kids think of how much they love their parents; he had to be thinking that there no longer existed for him, the words and the beings, father and mother. Times like those, and since it was summer and they were leaving the windows open, the moon sent its pale rays over their bed and lent him its grace, and Sakura savored the moments.

Thinking of all those, dreaming of all those, made her wake up several times in the night towards the 23rd of July. She was waking up, not making a sound so as to not wake him too, embracing her shoulders or her knees, thinking of everything again and again, and then she slept again for a bit, then woke up afterwards, to fall asleep again…Until a nightmare kicked her for good out of sleep at six in the morning, and she just sat at her place expressionless, thinking. Her stomach hurt but she was not hungry, it wasn't because of that. It felt as if a stone with sharp edges had been thrown into her, as if a whole bunch of roses with huge thorns or a family of bees resided in her belly, pinching her with their stings. Only at the thought though she felt nauseous; she'd better not throw up at the certain place and time…

A heart-throbbing, stressful feeling had descended upon her from last night. Fear, anxiety, insecurence, lacking self-control…It seemed as if all those feelings were consuming her, but she needn't search to find the reason why. It was right in front of her, right on the opposite side of the room, hanging in front of the long, full-body mirror, long and white and ethereal…The kimono she'd wear today, today for her wedding, hanging in front of her eyes, with its white silk shimmer in the morning light that flooded the room; it was embroidered with cherry blossom petals, just like her, and green branches at the corners of her long sleeves…Same with the bright, light pink obi which would be tied around her, only the embroidered area consisted of white Bitteralmond blossoms and flowers….And a golden thread had been used for these branches, as well as the inner part of the flowers. Just looking at it made Sakura feel nervous and her heart skipped beats anxiously.

She sighed and looked over at Sasuke's side on the bed, he was still sleeping. Of course he would. Any normal human being would. Even if he were a soon-to-be king, even if he was tortured by carrying every tormenting feeling deep down alone, he still had a normal sleeping pattern. Not like her. Ever since she was practically thrown out of Konoha, her sleep pattern had become unusual, she would wake up several times before she could finally close her eyes and fall deep into it. And even then, nightmares would always crawl near. Waking up in such early hours in the morning was not anything unusual, not anymore.

She felt him move beside her now, and turned to see. Was he awake or still sleeping? He had a small smile on his lips, from what she could see from the part of his face that wasn't hidden by the pillow. A small smile. A smile, nevertheless. Which meant that he had, if not anything else, a pleasant dream? His face, expression was peaceful, calm and he looked like a little kid.

He turned over to the other side now, his pillow in his arms; forehead facing the bedsheets. A dark object appeared from under the pillow, something that looked like a framed photograph. She raised her arm to it and took it, purely out of curiosity. Indeed, it was a photograph which depicted him as a child. Him as a child with a peaceful look, a cheerful smile, climbing up to a tree branch from the shoulders of his mother…

His mother…Was that really her? Was that really Uchiha Mikoto? Sasuke looked so much like his mother….So much that it seemed to Sakura that had it been for Sasuke to have long hair, he'd look exactly like the woman in the picture. She looked over at him again, he looked more like the happy little child now that he was asleep. Her hand extended from her body unconsciously and she stroked his hair, gently, trying not to wake him up; she knew how light his sleep had always been.

He turned again, face up to the ceiling. He was still sleeping, though the happy expression was long gone. His brows were furrowed, his mouth was slightly open and his whole face was a mask of fear; agony seemed to have conquered him. Sakura let the object fall from her hands and went closer to him. She placed her hand over his shoulder and leaned above him.

"Sasuke…" she whispered in his ear.

Almost as if he was responding, he grabbed her arms.

"Mum! No! Mum!"

Three words came out of his lips, three words uttered by a voice that Sakura had never before hear coming out of his mouth and now everything, from the way he slept, his figure, his facial expressions and his voice to the words he said and his dream showed him as he really was.

"…Sasuke…"

"Mum!" he shouted, still sleeping. "No! Not mum! Please, don't do it! Mum!"

"Sasuke…" Sakura shivered. Such things were happening from the first day they were together, back then. Not the same nightmare again, no!

"Noooo! No, don't do it, niisan, don't- MUM! NO!"

With one difference, this time, it was even more difficult to wake him. She pushed and pulled him back and forth, grabbing his shirt, she kept calling his name to wake him but he just wasn't out of his reverie. She shook him wildly but he was still asleep, screaming.

"Why did you do it, niisan? Why? Why did you kill them? Why?"

"Sasuke!' In a final and desperate attempt to wake him, the pink-haired girl slapped him, and when he opened his eyes, everything seemed to go on in fast forward. He woke up at once but was crying, crying hard like a kid abandoned in the forest, grabbing tightly on her sleeping yukata and whispering incoherent words. Sakura stroked his hair and kissed his forehead as she embraced him; soothing words would be useless in his case. Not that they weren't working; he just didn't want to hear them.

"Sssh…Calm down…It was just a dream."

"Why did he do it, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, his voice broken. Sakura felt him pressing his head on her as he held her tighter and she patted his back.

"I thought you already knew."

"He only lays crap on me…He always has. He was never truly there."

"Come to think of it, though, Sasuke…In contrast with your father who was always busy taking care of Konoha's people and your mother who had so many in her head, and yet still managed to find time for you, that brother figure was really by your side. He showed you things around, and even though he wasn't able to come and watch you in your training hours, he was the one who taught you the moves. Right?" But what the hell am I saying? I hate this man. How can I now find such gentle words just to calm Sasuke?...she wondered. Suddenly, she realized that she wa praising the man she hated most, for the sake of her one love.

"Even if you're right, that still doesn't change the fact that he killed our whole clan and family and destroyed my happiness. It will never change. He stole from me what was most cherished. Even…even the fact that I've got this damn curse on me is because of him!" Sasuke raised his voice in the last sentence. Sakura closed her eyes and hugged him tighter; not so much because she wanted to calm him or because she was afraid, but she felt like doing it. Sasuke loosened in her arms and she felt him stroking her arm that was around his neck.

"Maybe you're right. I should have been the last person to praise him to you, especially after what he did to me."

"Don't remind me…That's another reason to hate him."

"Sasuke…All this hatred is nerve-breaking. Why don't you just let it go for the time being? You're going to become the King today, and Konoha is still in war. You have to think of a way to end the war instead of hunting down one dream? Ambition? Thought? Call it as you wish, but selfish it will be no matter what names you give it." Sakura said; thoughtful as she continued stroking his hair, more out of numbness now rather than consciously doing it.

"You're…kind of right, you know…King…Guess that means I'll have a whole bunch of responsibilities now, hm? No more slacking hours?"

"Weren't you bored?"

"Huh?"

"I mean...All those hours you weren't called anywhere, weren't fighting…Weren't you bored? What have you been doing?"

"Daydreaming….Rejecting maids who were in love with me-"

"Meanie."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. You weren't the one to have them all around."

"Yeah, but I am a medic nin. Do you know how many men that were brought to us to heal them have asked me out? And not only here in Konoha; back when I was under the protection of Mizukage and working at their Medical Centre, they were hitting on me too."

"But you never gave in."

"Hey, boy, we never had any more than kisses and hugs, and after what Itachi did, I was scared to bits to even see them naked to examine or heal them; some time after I asked Mizukage if I could only take children as patients, and luckily he agreed. But even if I wasn't for Itachi or any of them, I'd still reject them." Sakura said with a steady voice. She looked at the clock right on the opposite wall, it was still only 6:30 in the morning.

"Why not? Wasn't anyone of them attractive?"

"Looks don't build up love, idiot."

"Then?"

"For me, what counts most is the heart. And from all the men I've ever associated with, I still and always love you. Because you've got a heart. Because even though you act cold and distant, you show no mercy, you're a blockhead-"

"Hey!"

"-you're violent and cruel sometimes and most of them you don't think before you speak or act, you're real. You're not fake and you know your weaknesses. Trying to come up with lies and false-philosophies to hide them is useless; and you've never done this. You're real and even though Naruto says you're a cold hearted bastard, I love you. And I love you for what you are. Remember that."

Sasuke remained silent after that. Her words weren't fake or trying to fool him; she was speaking from her heart. He knew that what she told him wasn't a lie, it couldn't be. Sakura had proved her love thousands of times. He was proud to have her by his side, not so much because he would be certain that she'd be faithful, but because he was sure that her love would complete him. When his parents were still alive, the subject "love" didn't so much bother him, it was needless to say that his family loved him. But when king Fugaku and queen Mikoto had descended, he realized how much "love" bothered him. How greedily he sought for it but how pridefully he rejected it whenever he came across it, in fear of himself appearing weak in the eyes of other people.

With Sakura, things were different. He loved her and she loved him too, deeply, truly, with all her heart and mind. Her little confession just moments ago made him realize how deep and meaningful her feelings were. Sakura actually cared for him.

"You idiot." He caught himself saying, inside his head. "Of course she cares for you. Otherwise, why heal you when you were battled to death by that Suna nin? Why agree to marry you after you hit her and reduced her, humiliating her in the middle of the street? Had it been for anyone else, they'd have gone back to their mother's crying."

"Sakura's mother died three years ago." Sasuke thought to himself. But the lingual battle with himself made him think back at the incidents; indeed, he had done so much to her that he now wondered how she bared staying with him.

"Sakura…Oh, dammit, you're such a wonderful person…" he whispered.

Sakura blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I love you so much, my little cherry blossom. I love you beyond the deepest depths of the seas and the far end of the sky." Sasuke said and kissed her, pushing her back and laying next to her. Sakura closed her eyes and smiled inside; who said that the curse was taking over him? If it was for him to be that sweet and tender, then she'd do all she could to let him stay this way forever.

"Hey, blondy…"

"What again, redhead?"

"Are you sending this hawk off without the message it has to deliver?"

"Eh? Ah, dammit! Bring it here, tomato!"

"Why you peanut! Watch your mouth!"

"And you watch your manners! Show some respect to Leader of the Houses, dammit!"

"Mr. Leader…"

"What?"

"You still forgot the purple ribbon."

"Aaaaargh, damn, Ladybug, I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh, you will? And then how will you live, mr. Corncob?

"I'll manage."

"Yeah, sure."

"Bring the ribbon here, Kushina."

Neji was waling up and down at the corridor right out of his uncle's room, arms crossed up before his chest, looking down when in reality he wasn't really looking at anything in particular. Deep in thought he was, wondering whether his letter to Tenten had the right things written, if someone else would open it before her, and still if he should write a new one. He wasn't even sure if Tenten got it, but since the hawk he sent returned and wasn't hurt or anything, he supposed that she got it, and his heart felt lighter.

On the other hand though, the letter to Tenten wasn't his only problem. After Hanabi was taken away too, Hiashi had fallen in depression and now was bedridden. Irritated because he couldn't keep an eye on everything as he used to, he was striking his nerves on anyone who would be unlucky to be near him at those times. For Neji though it was different, because, even though he got a promotion, to Hiashi he was still the one to hold responsible for the loss of another daughter, and he knew that very well. That fact wasn't Neji's problem though, what was bothersome was the punishment. Hiashi knew he had him; the curse seal of the green swastika symbol on Neji's forehead would eventually start hurting him, giving him the feeling that a heated blade was cutting him open. The pain was subsiding quickly now because he had grown used t it. The last month Neji learned to bear with it and even wait for it as a part of his daily routine.

This all went on until Hiashi got the first nervous breakdown.

He wasn't hospitalized but he stayed stuck to his bed for good now. The Hyuuga clan had no head now, so the lead went immediately to the elders. But old as they were, they had softened and made more close-to-people decisions. It was better now. The side and main branches finally seemed to be equal, since there was no one now to make the line between them look so visible. That was better for everyone in the clan, and although Hiashi didn't approve of it, he couldn't do something to turn it to his favor anymore.

Tsunade was dropping by every now and then to check on Hiashi's health. When the first shock hit him, she'd taken care of him with her assistant, Sakura. A medical nin always stayed by his side now; not so much to take care of him, because he was able to move the upper half of his body pretty well, but because someone had to be responsible for him, in charge so that Hiashi, who was now more violent than ever, wouldn't do anything to harm himself or somebody else.

Tsunade and Sakura walked out of Hiashi's room; Neji stopped walking and turned to them.

"How is he, Godaime?"

"He still has some months left. Luckily, maybe even a year. Be careful though." Tsunade said.

"Luckily? How can the fact that my everyday tormentor will live on for maybe even a year more be lucky?" Neji said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"That really depends on how you act towards him; if you don't do something to him, there's no reason to—"

"Forget that Sakura, why would I want to irritate a sick person; much more a person who does harmful things to me? He holds me responsible for Hinata-sama's and Hanabi's loss; but you know what? I believe that's only an excuse. The truth is in his eyes and I can see it/ He's envious of my father who, in spite of the fact that he was on the side branch got to have a son who inherited the Hyuuga bloodline limit as well; while the best he could get was two daughters, and only one of them seems suitable for it. He'll never accept Hinata-sama and Hanabi the way they are, he lives in an imaginary world, thinking of both of them as his priced daughters who were kidnapped because of my own carelessness. He's a crazy. And he wants to drag me down to hell with him." Neji said, hitting the wall with his fist. "It's unfair!"

"Neji!"

"Oh, boy, you're all so stubborn…Even if it is this way, Neji, you shouldn't feel responsible for it. As I'm told, the one who took Hanabi away was Hinata, so now, wherever they are, they're together. They can protect each other and support themselves." Tsunade said, crossing her arms over her chest. "And you know I'm right. I don't think I can do anything to break the curse and remove the seal, but the only thing you can really do is be patient."

"But why me? Why can't I just…flee? Leave here and go live on my own, like a normal person? Because of him, I'm not even able to see the one I love! It's unfair!"

"Neji, don't think that others lead totally normal lives either. Sasuke and I are getting married today and yet look at me; I'm still working. And he doesn't have an easier life either. As far as I know, Shikamaru doesn't want this marriage, but he will go for it to please the ones who love him." Sakura said, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Sasuke doesn't have another choice; he wants to be King, remember? If he didn't want he'd gave up on the royal heritance and he'd pass it down to someone else. It's his choice, and he loves you too, so? Where's the problem? As for Shikamaru, he made his choice as well. Our difference is that you all can draw your lines and do what you want without any sequences or fear of someone else; I can't do that. I'm not free. I've got a whole clan going after me and worse, Hiashi. Until he dies, he'll just keep on torturing me, and no one can tell him to stop; he's the head of the family. When he dies, I'll be finally free, and the curse seal will be inactive until Hinata or Hanabi take control."

"Sensei had told me that things are rough inside the Hyuuga clan but I didn't imagine they'd be that rough." Tsunade said, scratching her forehead.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, looking at Tsunade.

"Sandaime."

"Ah, yes."

"Well, you see it, you live it!" Neji said.

"NEJI!" A voice echoed like a thunder in the hall; Tsunade and Sakura froze while Neji only covered his ears, closing his eyes. "WHERE'S YOUR REPORT?" Hiashi howled again.

"And you hear it too. That's how we are every day. Nothing ever changes. If you can do something to make him leave earlier, do it. I'm not going to say any more." He said and turned his back, opened the door and entered Hiashi's room.

"Shishou, he's having it really rough…Can't we do something?...Anything?"

"Normally, the Silver Fog would report such things to Leader but since away and unaware…You have to report these as Konoha's representative, and so the Hyuuga clan's too. You're the Iris, right?"

"Shishou, how did you know?" Sakura asked, eyes wide open.

"I was the Golden Cloud once…When your Leader's father was Leader himself…Who is the Cloud now?"

"Tenten. She says she lives in Amegakure, but for as long as I lived there, I hadn't seen her at all."

"Maybe she lives in the forest. She needs the woods for her training; she's a weapon's mistress, no?"

"Well, yeah, as we need special parts of training grounds…I guess that goes for her too."

"Oi, Shikamaru…" Nara Shikaku's voice called lazily for his son. " Do you know what day it is today?"

"July 23, Uchiha Sasuke's birthday and the middle of the summer." Shikamaru replied lazily. "Why?"

"You're forgetting something really important." Shikaku said. "And if you're doing it on purpose…"

""Huuh? What do you mean? What is it that it's today and I should remember?"

"Your wedding, you idiot!" Shikaku threw him a pillow.

"Ouch! Oh, crap, it's today? I had completely forgotten about it…"

"Better go get ready, you idiotbox. I know how long it will take you and you got only five hours."

"…Shikamaru closed his eyes, the pillow Shikaku threw still on his face. He stood up and the green pillow fell on the tatami mat floor without a sound. He walked out, not caring to answer his father. "I'll go cloudwatching…Need to think…"

The streets were full of joyous people. People who were making preparations for the ceremony tonight. People who were gossiping about the three couples; he even heard Temari's name being mentioned and remembered; some people knew about them. He walked on forward, head up, looking at the sky. And then he bumped on someone.

"Oi, watch where you're going…Don't go cloudwatching in the middle of the street!"

"Asuma!"

"Yep. Hey, what's with the long face?" the man asked, patting his student's back.

"Need you ask? I'm getting married tonight!"

"No more freedom, huh? He said indifferently, lighting a cigarette.

"It's not that…Can't we go somewhere less crowded? I need to talk to someone….I can't keep them in and go on like that anymore."

"Everyone's out in the street so…Let's go to my house."

They walked silent, passing by people who wanted to stop them to congratulate Shikamaru for his choice and Asuma for his students. Shikamaru slapped his forehead mentally every time it happened. (He was too lazy to get his hands out of his pockets.)

"Well, who knows? Naturally it's the bride who seems melancholic, but this…"

"Who knows? Ino-chan is way too happy to connect to the word, you know? She's the last girl you'd think of as a melancholic bride!"

"Come to think of it, Shikaku was like that too!"

"Really?"

"Yep. And now he's all lovey-dovey with Yoshino-san, even after all those years."

"Then everything's okay!"

The two who had this conversation walked on laughing and Shikamaru felt like his head was boiled; gossiping in Suna, gossiping in Konoha…He knew that people just were like that, but what pissed him wasn't the fact that they were talking about him, or Temari, or anyone, but the fact that they were jumping to conclusions; and most of the times, irrelevant.

"Damn you all…" he mumbled and sighed. After a while, they reached Asuma's house. It hadn't changed at all from the last time he had stepped there. The only thing that seemed to be off was that it was…Tidily messy. One picture of Kurenai, one of Konohamaru and one of Sandaime Sarutobi were together on a table, a board of shougi set on the low food table, its pawns scattered all around, along with a forgotten cigarette and a box of matches. A Jounin vest was on the couch; it seemed to have something that looked like coffee stain on it, and a burned point betrayed the presence of ashes. Shikamaru shook his head; the mess in his room was greater, and he didn't mind this at all. After all, Asuma was going through his own rough time now too.

"Sorry it's that messy; I hadn't found the courage to do any housework since Kurenai was…" Asuma said, scratching his chin.

"Hey, don't worry. M room's even worse since I don't let my hag get in and clean anymore; that's nothing compared to it. As long as there's a place to sit and talk…" Shikamaru said, showing some of the pillows that were around the shougi board.

"I'm not in the mood right now."

"Who said I wanted to play? I'm not in the mood either. I just needed a quiet place to sit and talk, that's all."

"Then move it and sit down." Asuma said, lighting anew cigarette. He blew the smoke off and threw the match out of the window; it landed on a tone in the yard. "So? What did you want to talk about? I knew that you're not so well lately, ever since you came back from Suna five months ago you're really a mess. What's the matter, boy?" Asuma asked, sitting down next to his student.

"Well…It's about Temari…And Ino, eventually.

"Eventually?"

"Well…"

"First things first."

"Okay. As you already know, three years ago, I was with Temari. But back then something happened to her and she left so suddenly, without even saying goodbye. Looking back at it now, she was kinda weird for about two weeks before she left…The fact is, I didn't know what happened until the last time I went to Suna…She's got a son, you know. He'll be three this year."

"You went that far with her?"

"Asuma! Well, I did, but…The problem is…she's not sure if the kid's mine."

"What? Why?"

Because…She said that…Itachi raped. And I know that it's not a lie, Sakura confirmed it; he had done the same to her and got her pregnant. Sakura was told by Tsunade to leave the kid in the woods and he's the one who had been hurting the messengers from Suna and Konoha; anyway, because of that…Temari didn't even want to see me."

"But why? It's not like it's your fault or anything."

"She…seemed as if she was afraid of my reaction if I saw her son, and most of, if I touched her. Every time I did, she cried. But I can't understand why she gave in and... And just because she was like a female quarterback back then, and she doesn't know who that kid's father is, she's hidden his existence from everyone…Well, apart from that old Chiyo and that Matsuri girl, Gaara's student or secretary or whatever she is.

"And what does that have to do with you and Ino?" Asuma mumbled.

"Can't you see? I still love Temari, I never stopped loving her! The wedding that's here for me and Ino was arranged by our parents and all through these years we're engaged I was forced to pretend I loved her…When I…The last time I went to Suna, to inform them of the pirate attack, Gaara sent me to spend the night at Temari's house because their inns were filled, and I made out with her!...I…I can't keep on pretending, Ino might be getting on my nerves all the time but she doesn't deserve this."

"I knew this marriage was a bad idea after all…You and Ino just aren't cut out to be together. Your clan techniques may match but you two don't. Temari…I don't know a thing about her, but judging from what I see and from the kind of women the Nara men seem to give into…She's your ideal girl." Asuma said, blowing the smoke off, creating rings and ripples in the air. " And this isn't about Ino, and we both know it. It's because you love Temari, and don't give me that crap and look, and you care for her so much that your worries rub off all the time."

"What? You…You don't think that they've…understood anything, right?"

"You're like an open book-"

"WHAT?"

"- -to me! Shut up when I'm talking!" Asuma slapped Shikamaru's neck. "You're like an open book to me, even though I'm not your father."

"Better you than pops."

"Hey."

"He's really troublesome."

"Everything's troublesome for you, man."

"Except for Temari…" Shikamaru murmured. "Well…what do I do now?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

"You go marry Ino like nothing has happened, and you hope for a miracle to happen." Asuma raised his shoulders.

"Are you crazy? I can't do that! After the ceremony's over, they'll be expecting us to…She'll be expecting…" Shikamaru said, a slight red color spreading over his cheeks.

"Why the blush? It's not like you haven't done it before or anything…"

'Asuma!"

"Don't shout. Am I not telling the truth?"

"It's not that! I…can't even think of myself with Ino…like that. Especially now, she's the one who's completely inexperienced and will be waiting for me to do everything."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not…Everything! Her eyes, her thoughts, her touch…Her whole existence! I can't imagine myself with another woman! Not to mention that I'm worried whether I'll be able to act normal for the rest of the day or not. I've got a really bad feeling."

"Then get rid of it."

"Easy for you to say. You married the woman you loved."

"Shut up."

Maybe he was right, feeling bad, because Ino was really making a fuss about the night, talking to everyone that was around to listen; their customers at the shop, her parents, the flowers…She was overflowing with happiness, that much that Inoichi had to sent her out to go get water to calm things for a while.

"Pretty joyous, isn't she?" Ino's mother whispered.

"Well, she;s getting married! I would act like that too if I was her. Weren't you all excited back then too?" Inoichi told her.

"That was you, dear."

"Oh well…" the blond man scratched his forehead.

**A LITTLE SOMETHING, everonye. As some of you may remember, today is my birthday. This chapter was supposed to be WHOLE, but since it's not finished in the typing yet, and I haven't posted anything in about two months, I decided to split it up and post up TODAY, so not to break the tradition of one KC chapter uploaded on my Bday. I'm finally 17.**

**Enjoy the first part! o**


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